Follow the Star
by Anath Tsurugi
Summary: Sequel to Written in the Stars. This is a little Holidays idea that I had. Ax's first Christmas, gift shopping, and a quantum virus to sum things up.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own Animorphs, just Stella, Gwyn, and Claire. Now that that's out of the way......  
  
(A/N) Hello again everyone. I bet you weren't expecting to hear from me again so soon. This isn't exactly the sequel I had in mind. There will be a longer one some time soon. This is just a short holidays idea that I had. But it is pretty dramatic if I do say so myself. I should mention that this takes place in between books 25 and 26, since that's about as far as I've read. Elski, there's no need for flesh-eating, purple teddy bears. AryaWinds, what do you mean by alternate time line? Fuzy Llama, no worries, I probably won't get too descriptive. I'm not over eighteen either, just fourteen in fact. It's not like I write from experience or anything. #1 Fan, or #1 Sugar Fan, I purposely made it obvious that they were Stella and Aximili's kids. I had to make sure you all stayed hooked. For anybody out there who hasn't read Written in the Stars, this is a sequel for that story. You don't have to read that to understand this but I would recommend that you do. Thus I begin......  
  
Follow the Star  
  
Chapter 1: Schemes and Memories  
  
"A little to the right, Dad." Cassie said as she directed her father.  
  
My name is Aximili Esgarrouth Isthill. I am an Andalite. But at the moment I live on the planet Earth. I fight against the Yeerk invasion with six human youths. Prince Jake, Cassie, Rachel, Marco, Tobias, and Stella.  
  
Right now I was in my human morph. All seven of us were at Cassie's home preparing for a human religious festival. Cassie's father had set up a tree in a room of their house. He was now attempting to wrap a long string of tiny, brightly colored lights around the branches of the tree. I turned to Stella, who stood beside me.  
  
"Kim, Kuh-im, tell me again. What is the purpose of covering this tree in lights. Light-zuh?"  
  
Stella laughed as I gazed back into her brown eyes. Normally she has gray eyes but she too was in a morph. Stella can no longer risk revealing herself as she really is in front of other humans. Aside from the other Animorphs that is.  
  
She got on the wrong side of Visser Three, the Yeerk warlord leading the invasion of Earth. She found the Escafil device that my brother Elfangor brought to Earth. It was because of him that the Animorphs came into being. He broke Andalite law and gave our morphing technology to Jake, Cassie, Tobias, Rachel, and Marco. Originally it was just the five of them and myself. But then Stella found the device. Visser Three discovered that she had it and he went after her. He killed her entire family and destroyed her home. She barely escaped with her life. We seven have had some very wild adventures ever since she joined us but I wouldn't trade a minute of it. At first none of us trusted Stella. But after everything that we have been through she has really become "part of the group" as my human friends say. I have also come to care for her very deeply.  
  
It was so strange looking back at her now. She must use her Kim morph whenever we are out among other humans. Just as Tobias and I must use our human forms around other humans. Normally Stella has long, black hair, pale skin, gray eyes, and she is five Earth feet tall. In her morph she has reddish-brown hair that stops at the nape of her neck, light brown skin, brown eyes, and she is roughly four inches taller. This morph is a blend of DNA from Cassie and Rachel. We have chosen to call her Kim when she is in this form.  
  
"It's a Christmas tradition. I don't really know why we do it. I guess it's just something humans have always done on Christmas. Humans who actually celebrate Christmas that is." She answered me.  
  
"Ah. But why don't all humans celebrate this religious holiday of yours?"  
  
"First of all, it's called Christmas. And not all humans are Christians. Some people celebrate Chanukah. Others celebrate Kwanzaa. Cassie's family might actually celebrate Kwanzaa-" Stella started to say.  
  
"Actually Kim, we don't. We're not real big on that whole thing." Cassie told her.  
  
"And what is the significance of this Christmas?"  
  
"We celebrate Christmas because it's the birth date of God's son, Jesus."  
  
"All right. Is Christmas very meaningful to humans?"  
  
"Definitely. Christmas is definitely one of the more popular holidays."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I guess it's because of all the gifts you get on Christmas."  
  
"Gifts?"  
  
"Yeah. On Christmas your supposed to give gifts to the people you love."  
  
"Okay, the lights are finally on the tree. You kids can start putting on the ornaments. I'm gonna go see if Cassie's mom needs any help in the kitchen." Cassie's father said as he walked out of the room.  
  
"Let's get started then." Cassie said enthusiastically.  
  
She reached into one of the two dust-covered boxes that sat beside the tree and pulled out a vibrant red ball with a hook attached to it. Then she hung it on the tree. Prince Jake did the same. One by one the other Animorphs joined them. Each of them reached into one of the boxes, pulled out a brightly colored decoration, and placed it on the tree. Stella jumped up to join them. I followed hesitantly.  
  
"What am I supposed to do?" I asked them.  
  
"Just grab an ornament and hang it on the tree. But be careful with them. Some of the ornaments are very fragile." Cassie said as she hung up another decoration.  
  
Slowly I reached into the first box and came out with a small, glass figurine. It was in the shape of a human, only it had wings. I walked over to the tree, being careful of the tiny glass decoration. I searched for a tree branch that wasn't already occupied. When I finally succeeded in finding one I hung the decoration on the tree with great reverence. For this must be a great human religious ceremony.  
  
"I did it." I whispered breathlessly.  
  
"Our little Ax is growing up. His first Christmas tree ornament. Let's all give him a big hand." Marco said. I detected sarcasm in his voice. I believe that I am getting better at recognizing it.  
  
"What? Is it wrong? Wrrrrrr-ong." I asked.  
  
"No, it's not wrong. But it's not that big of a deal." Tobias explained. As he spoke he squinted. My guess is that he is not used to having human eyes. Tobias's true form is a red-tailed hawk. A limitation to the morphing is that you cannot stay in a morph for more than two hours or you will stay forever. Tobias was trapped in his hawk morph. A nothlit. But somehow a creature known as an Ellimist gave him back the ability to morph. He can now morph back to human for two hours at a time. But if he stays in his human form for more than two hours he will lose the ability to morph forever.  
  
For a while after that we continued to hang the decorations on the tree. When we had finished Cassie pulled a small statue out of the last box. It was another winged human. Cassie climbed up on a chair and placed the statue on the very peak of the tree. Then she activated the strings of lights that were wrapped around the tree. Even I must admit that the sight was very beautiful. The colored lights cast patterns and shadows all around the room.  
  
"And I have the first gift to put under the tree." Prince Jake said with a grin.  
  
With that he walked back over to his pack. He withdrew a square package wrapped in brightly colored paper.  
  
"Merry Christmas Cassie." Prince Jake said as he handed the package to Cassie.  
  
Cassie mumbled her thanks and placed the package under the tree. By now I noticed that Prince Jake's face had turned a flaming shade of red.  
  
"Now Cassie, don't be a naughty girl and open it before Christmas." Marco said as he poked her in the shoulder.  
  
"Give it a rest Marco. It's Christmas day in one week." Rachel said as she propelled a cushion at his head.  
  
Marco ducked and caught the cushion in his hands.  
  
"Nice try, Xena. I thought you could do better."  
  
"What is the meaning of this?" I asked Stella.  
  
"What? Marco and Rachel going for each other's throats? That's nothing new in case you haven't noticed." She replied with a giggle.  
  
"No. I mean the placing of brightly wrapped packages beneath a tree. What is its significance? Nif- ic- unsssssss."  
  
"That's also a Christmas tradition. You put gifts under the Christmas tree and on Christmas morning everyone gets to open their presents." She explained.  
  
"So Cassie, what are you gonna get for Jake? A ring maybe?" Marco said with a grin.  
  
This seemed to be more than Rachel could take. She leapt up from her place on the couch and knocked Marco to the floor.  
  
"Don't hurt him Rachel. I don't want to have to clean blood off of the floor." Cassie said. She was obviously trying not to laugh.  
  
"How do you like that Marco? Outmatched by a girl." Prince Jake said to Marco as he lay on the floor. He was making no attempt not to laugh.  
  
Marco just growled and pushed Rachel off of him. Just then Cassie's mother entered the room. She carried a tray with her.  
  
"Who wants hot chocolate? I made it myself."  
  
"Chocolate?" I instantly turned to see what she carried on the tray. There were seven human drinking vessels on it. I had heard the others call them mugs. They were filled with a steaming brown liquid.  
  
I turned to look back at Cassie. A horrified look crossed her face. I wasn't sure if it was because her mother had made this "hot chocolate" or because of my reaction. I have trouble keeping control of myself around food. Especially chocolate or cinnamon buns. It is just so wonderful and overpowering. Taste is the sense that can drive an Andalite insane.  
  
"Um....are you sure that's a good idea. You didn't have to go to all that trouble." Prince Jake stuttered. As he said this his gaze drifted over to me.  
  
"Oh nonsense Jake. It's the least I can do after you all helped us put up our tree. There's one for each of you."  
  
One by one they approached Cassie's mother and took some of the steaming liquid from the tray. I finally approached her and took one of the mugs. As I walked back to stand beside Stella, Cassie's mother disappeared back into the kitchen.  
  
As the other six sipped their drinks they eyed me expectantly, maybe even with a little bit of fear. Slowly I brought the mug to my human lips. I took a huge gulp of the steaming liquid called hot chocolate.  
  
Ah. Once again that wonderful feeling that I had been removed from the everyday world. Chocolate. So wonderful. So breathtaking. More! More! I had to have more of it. My tongue was on fire but I didn't care. I had to have more of that liquid! I took another large gulp. I felt tears gathering at the corners of my eyes. So hot. More! I tilted the mug to pour the liquid down my throat. I was practically choking on it. That didn't matter. More!  
  
"Woah, Ax. Slow down." I heard Stella trying to talk to me.  
  
Suddenly I felt the mug being pulled from my grasp.  
  
"No! Give it back! I must have more!" I shouted. I reached for the mug but Stella pulled it away from me. She stared back at me reproachfully. She held the mug tantalizingly out of my reach.  
  
"You were choking Ax. Lie down before you hurt yourself. It's just hot chocolate. If you calm down maybe I'll give it back to you."  
  
As I started to breathe again and the taste of the chocolate faded from my tongue I began to calm down.  
  
"All right, I believe I am in control again. I'm sorry. It is just so........you cannot possibly understand. The flavor. It.....I am simply not prepared for it."  
  
"Good thing Cassie's mom wasn't still here during that little scene." Stella said.  
  
"You think that was bad? You should have seen him when we took him to the movies and he tried chocolate for the first time." Marco said with a sardonic grin.  
  
"What happened? Was it really that bad?"  
  
"Let's just say this. You don't want to know." Prince Jake answered her.  
  
As we all sat around the tree talking about "this and that", a thought crept into my mind. Stella had said that during Christmas you were supposed to give gifts to the people that you loved. Did that mean that I was expected to give Stella a gift? If so, then what should it be? How could I possibly know what to give her?  
  
I could ask Prince Jake for help. Yes, that was it. He seemed to have this whole gift giving system under control. He would know what would make the perfect gift.  
  
But the question still remained. How could I possibly find a gift that was worthy of her?  
  
* * *  
  
{ TWO DAYS LATE! THIS BASE SHOULD HAVE BEEN FINISHED TWO DAYS AGO!! } I screamed angrily at the human controller that had come to report to me.  
  
"Forgive us, visser. We've had trouble getting supplies out here without attracting attention. But it should be finished in another two days." The human male cowered before me.  
  
{ The Andalite bandits are not going to wait for us to finish construction on this base. I expect progress. I'll let you live this time. But if you report any sort of set back then you will suffer. }  
  
"Yes visser." The human trembled.  
  
{ Now get out of my sight! } I hissed.  
  
The human instantly scrambled away. I turned to face the opposite wall of my office.  
  
{ Transparent. } I gave the command and the wall instantly became transparent.  
  
My blade ship hovered over an island that the humans called Royan Island. The blade ship was invisible to any prying human eyes. There was a garrison of controllers under the surface at that very moment. We were trying to rebuild the underwater base that the Andalite bandits had destroyed. But what no one, except for a select few controllers, knew was that I wasn't actually planning to rebuild the base. I knew that the Andalites would find out about it. They would come and try to destroy it. If everything went according to plan they would succeed. It was a waste of good material but I had at last come up with a plan to destroy the bandits once and for all, and if not them then I could at least destroy the human bandit, Stella.  
  
I had attempted to destroy them many times before but they still managed to evade my grasp. This clever ploy would finally trap them for good and Earth would be mine. Stella would die for sure this time. The last part of the plan was the if. Whether or not the Andalites died would depend on how well Stella kept to that nobility of hers. If she gave into that weakness that most humans possessed then it was a sure thing. But if not, then she would be the only one to die.  
  
It had taken weeks to come up with this plot. Weeks of puzzling over what I had learned from the vitals tracking device that I had implanted in Stella's body when she had been my prisoner. The device allowed me to keep track of Stella's vital systems and her emotions. The device had only functioned for a week but in that time I learned all that I needed. I had learned from her emotional state during most of that week that she was in love with one of the Andalite bandits. And that this bandit felt the same way about her. It was so odd even imagining a human and an Andalite. But it was enough to work with just the same. Knowing Stella, she would risk anything to keep her Andalite lover safe. That was what would seal her fate.  
  
Soon I would spring my trap. I would conquer Stella and the Andalites.  
  
{ Come to me, my little Andalite bandits. I am waiting for you. }  
  
* *  
*  
  
(A/N) So what do you think? Shall I continue? 


	2. Tell No One

(A/N) Sharina, thank you much for reviewing. Same to you, Qenies9, Metroid13, Fuzy Llama, and Anonymous. Hugs and a Happy New Year to everyone past and present who reviews this. Now things are really going to start heating up.  
  
Follow the Star  
Chapter 2: Tell No One  
  
"Okay, girls really like jewelry. So let's start there." Marco said as we walked through the mall.  
  
"And how, pray tell, Marco, do you know what girls like?" Tobias asked him jokingly.  
  
"Well, aside from me, I make it my business to know what women want." Marco answered.  
  
"We are in for a long afternoon." Prince Jake sighed.  
  
I had asked Prince Jake, Marco, and Tobias to help me find the perfect gift for Stella. Now we were all at the mall. Prince Jake finally pulled us all into one of the stores.  
  
"Jake, you actually think that we can afford anything in here?" Marco asked incredulously.  
  
"We can if only one of us buys something. And Ax did ask us for help." Prince Jake whispered back to him.  
  
"Well Ax, have a look around. See if you can find anything you think she might like." Tobias said.  
  
For a long while after we hunted around the store. One of the others would occasionally pick up one of the pieces of jewelry but I rejected all of them. None of them seemed to fit Stella. They were either too gaudy or too little. The concept of jewelry puzzles me. Human females decorate themselves with metals and precious stones. Particularly around the neck, the wrists, and the fingers. Stella did not seem like the type for jewelry. But then again, what did I know about human girls?  
  
"Ax, we've been looking for nearly an hour and a half. What exactly are you looking for?" Marco asked me impatiently.  
  
"I don't know." I muttered as I continued to search. What was I looking for?  
  
Suddenly something caught my eye. It was a necklace. It was a slender, silver chain attached to a round, silver pendent. The charm was only slightly larger than the currency called a quarter. Etched into the silver was a star. A five-pronged star. In the very center of the star rested a tiny white gemstone. A diamond. Upon closer examination I noticed a groove that ran all the way around the pendent.  
  
"What type of necklace is this?" I asked breathlessly.  
  
"It's a locket." Prince Jake explained. "You pop it open like this." With that he slid one of his fingernails into the groove, applied pressure, and the pendent opened to reveal a hidden compartment.  
  
"You can put little pictures inside of it." Tobias added.  
  
I didn't bother to ask why a person would want to do that. I had finally found the right gift.  
  
"It's perfect." I whispered.  
  
"What? That old thing? It isn't even worth half of some of the things in here." Marco said.  
  
"I do not care. It is exactly what I am looking for. Exzzzz-act-li. Ac- tuh. Tuh-lee."  
  
Marco looked ready to argue but Prince Jake and Tobias kept him silent as we paid for the necklace. It was the perfect thing. The necklace was simple, yet profound in some deep way. The way that it captured everything that Stella was. Simple and effective, yet beautiful in so many subtle ways.  
  
After we had paid and were walking away from the store I suddenly heard a voice.  
  
"Well, well, well. Fancy seeing you four coming out of a jewelry store."  
  
I turned to see Eric the Chee coming towards us. The Chee are a race of androids built by a long extinct race called Pemalites. The Chee have remained hidden on Earth for thousands of years. This particular Chee was a spy. He played the role of a controller in The Sharing. He had given us much valuable information on the movements of the Yeerk invasion.  
  
"Mind if we just walk along for a little bit? I want a word with you all." He inquired casually.  
  
As we strolled through the mall Eric began to explain.  
  
"Do you all remember that little trip that you took to Royan Island?"  
  
"Yes. Lots of sharks over there." Prince Jake remarked.  
  
"I've heard that there's some sort of construction project going on over there. They are rebuilding something over there."  
  
"The base." Tobias whispered.  
  
"But why? It was.......destroyed." Marco interjected hesitantly.  
  
"We don't know. You'll have to check it out. Good luck." He said as he slipped away into the crowd.  
  
"But why would they rebuild that base? It's not like they can make the sharks into controllers again. They can't use them to take the Leeran home world." Marco fumed as we left the building.  
  
"Maybe not. But there must be something else that it can be used for." I thought out loud.  
  
"Either way we'll have to check it out." Prince Jake said gravely.  
  
* *  
*  
  
"Okay, so let me get this straight. The Yeerks are rebuilding this underwater base of theirs. But why? What else can they possibly use sharks for?" Rachel asked in a frustrated voice.  
  
"I don't know, but I have a feeling that they're not after the sharks this time." I said as we walked along the beach, hidden by the tree line.  
  
Ax, the other Animorphs, and I had been to this island once before. The Yeerks had built an underwater base just off the shores of the island. They were using it to make controllers out of the hammerhead sharks that lived in the area. The shark controllers would have been used to invade the home world of an alien species known as the Leerans. The Leerans are kind of like yellow frogs the size of a human. Only these frogs are psychic. The Yeerks would have succeeded if we hadn't destroyed the factory. The other Animorphs also learned what I already knew. That Marco's mother wasn't dead, but a controller. She was the infamous Visser One.  
  
"What do you mean Stella? How can it not be about the sharks? What else are they going to use it for?" Marco asked me.  
  
"Once again, I don't know, but something smells fishy to me. Why would they rebuild the base in the exact same spot? They know that we know. What exactly are they up to?" I wondered out loud.  
  
"You know, you may be right. But we still have to look into it." Jake said as we all walked into the surf, careful to stay out of sight of the Royan mansion. There would no doubt be Controllers hiding out there.  
  
{ Come on. Let's just get this over with. } Tobias said nervously from his perch on Rachel's shoulder. He has a bit of a problem with water.  
  
"This could be a trap." Cassie said.  
  
"True, but what else can we do?" Jake said as he started to morph.  
  
With the doubt still lingering in my gut I began to morph the hammerhead shark. My skin became hard and gray. My arms fused with my body and two fins sprouted from my sides. My legs fused together and became a tail. I felt a long shark fin sprout from my back. I felt the itching in my gums as my weak human teeth were replaced with the powerful, killer shark teeth. My eyes slid outward as my head became the hammer of the shark's head. I fell forward into the water as the gills began to slit my vanishing neck. I thrashed about in the water, unable to breathe either air or water for a few moments. Finally the gills were fully formed and I swam gratefully through the water, taking it into my gills and sucking oxygen from it.  
  
I had morphed the hammerhead before so the instincts were not as overpowering as before. Especially since there was no blood in the water this time. There was simply that ever-present hunger. No fear, no nothing. Just the need to seek out pray and eat.  
  
{ Is everybody okay? } Jake asked.  
  
One by one we answered his call.  
  
{ Let's do it! }Rachel shouted enthusiastically as she sped off through the water.  
  
We all knew where we were going. We headed for deeper waters, out to a seabed a quarter of a mile away and two hundred feet below the surface. Or at least that's what it looked like to any prying eyes. It was really a hologram. A hologram disguising a Yeerk facility of some kind. If Eric was correct in his information that is.  
  
{ I don't like this. } I whispered fearfully to the others.  
  
{ Why? What's wrong? } Rachel asked.  
  
{ Don't you see it? There are no sharks around here. As far as I can tell there isn't even a living creature around here. It's too quiet. We have to go back! }  
  
{ We don't know that there's anything wrong here. The only way to found out is to see if that thing down there is a hologram or not. } Jake said, trying to reassure me.  
  
But I was still afraid. I hung back from the others. Something bad was about to happen. I don't know how I knew but I just did.  
  
{ No. I'm not going down there! }  
  
{ What's the matter? Are you afraid? } Rachel asked.  
  
{ A little blunt there, Rachel. } Marco cut in snidely.  
  
{ Yes, I am afraid. He's down there! He's down there waiting for us! It was too easy! It's all a trap! Please, don't make me go down there!! } I shrieked for the whole ocean to hear.  
  
{ Stella, calm down. You know that we have to check this thing out. You don't have to come if you don't want to. } Jake said.  
  
Somehow his words had a calming effect on me. I had let my emotions get the better of me. I was probably just being paranoid. This mission would probably be dangerous anyway.  
  
{ No, it's all right. I think I'm okay. I'll go. }  
  
As Jake led the way down to the seabed Ax spoke to me in private thought speech.  
  
{ Stella, are you certain that you are all right? What happened? Why did you just lose control like that? }  
  
{ I don't know. It just.........happened, I guess. Just this feeling that I had. } I said absent-mindedly.  
  
{ If you are not emotionally stable, maybe you should not join us. You may break down again in the middle of a fight. } He said worriedly.  
  
{ Ax, I'm fine. No need to freak out. Everything's good. } I said. I kept repeating it over and over to myself. Everything is going to be fine. Everything is going to be fine.  
  
We finally reached the seabed.........and passed right through it. It was a hologram after all. I saw the familiar structure built into the slope. The three giant tunnels. Strangely enough all three of them were open this time. We swam through the center one just like before. When we reached the inner boat dock it was empty.  
  
{ I think it's safe to say that they're not using this place to make shark controllers. But what are they going to use it for? } Cassie wondered.  
  
{ I don't know, but whatever it's for we've got to get rid of it. Ax, do you think you could hack into the computer system again? } Jake asked.  
  
{ Can I get into the system. } Ax snorted derisively. { No Yeerk computer can keep out an Andalite. }  
  
{ Okay, same thing as last time. I think five minutes should cut it, Ax. You and Stella head for the computer. The rest of us will create a distraction. I think the two of you should go roach this time. They have decent sight. } Jake said as we all demorphed from sharks.  
  
{ All right. } I said. When I was fully human again I immediately started to morph the roach. I was very tired from the stress and the morphing but I continued to morph anyway. My skin became the hard exoskeleton of the roach. My innards melted away to become the more primitive organs of a roach. I was shrinking rapidly. The extra legs burst forth from my chest. I wanted to barf as I watched it all happening but there was no time for that now. I wanted to get in, get out, and go home. The panic that had taken control of me earlier was still there, lingering in the back of my mind.  
  
{ Ax, are you ready? } I asked when I was fully roach.  
  
{ Yes. I am ready. Let's go. }  
  
With that we took off on our roach wings. Heading for the main section of the facility.  
  
{ Remember you two, five minutes. } Jake said as the others began to morph their battle animals.  
  
For a while after that I didn't pay much attention to where I was going. I just followed the roach that flew in front of me. The roach's vision wasn't the best but it was enough. It wasn't until Ax was practically screaming at me that I noticed we had landed.  
  
{ Stella, can't you hear me?! We have reached the main computer. I have already demorphed. What is taking you so long?! }  
  
{ I'm sorry. Did you say something? }  
  
{ Stella, what's wrong with you?! I have been standing here for a full ten minutes shouting at you! Why couldn't you hear me?! Something is obviously wrong with you. You shouldn't have come with us! }  
  
{ No, really. I'm fine. I'm just.........distracted. } I said as I demorphed.  
  
{ Please, don't try and hide anything from me Stella. If you are distracted then you won't be able to defend yourself if the need arises. What's wrong? } He asked. There was urgency in his voice, but I also heard tenderness. He was afraid for my safety.  
  
"It's all right Ax. It's just this bad feeling that I have. I can't shake this feeling that there's something I've overlooked. That something bad is gonna happen any minute now. But don't let it bother you. You have to rig this computer thing."  
  
I stood guard while Ax hacked into the system. All the while I grew ever more suspicious. I heard the sounds of battle coming from the main entryway.  
  
"ROOOAAAARRRR!!!"  
  
TSEEEW!  
  
TSEEEW!  
  
"HROOOAAAARRRR!!!"  
  
That would be Rachel and Jake in morph. Dracon fire.  
  
"Hurry up, Ax! It doesn't sound like they're doing to well out there!" I said urgently.  
  
{ Done. } he reported after several tedious moments. { The force fields will fail in exactly five minutes and millions of your gallons of water will crush this fortress.........again. }  
  
"Well let's hurry and get out there. I don't think the diversion is working too well. I'm just surprised we haven't been found yet."  
  
Ax and I went tearing out of the office that held the computers. As we headed for the door that led to the main entryway I tried to decide which of my morphs would be best for this situation. But just as we reached the door and I reached out to pull it open, I heard Jake's voice in my head.  
  
{ STELLA! AX! Can either of you hear me!? Listen up, morph something small! Get out of here! IT'S A TRAP! }  
  
But it was too late. The door was already open. As Ax and I spilled out into the entryway I saw that all of the other Animorphs were being held down by a pack of Hork-Bajir controllers. All of them lay still.  
  
{ AAAAAAAH! } I heard Ax scream as a new pack of Hork-Bajir came out of no where and pinned him to the floor.  
  
"AX! NO!" I screamed. Just as suddenly someone else appeared in the room. Someone that I had been praying not to see ever since we had entered the water. Visser Three, not in a morph, but in his Andalite body.  
  
{ So you did come after all. I've been expecting you. Especially you, Stella. }  
  
I was vulnerable in my true human form. I slowly began to back away from him, my eyes wide with fear. How had I known it? How had I known that Visser Three would be here waiting for us?  
  
As I backed away he walked towards me.  
  
{ What's the matter Stella? You started this little game. Now you don't want to finish it?}  
  
He was now right up against me. His face was up against my face. But even as he glared back into my eyes I felt the Hork-Bajir hands on my arms, dragging me to the ground.  
  
"No!" I cried out helplessly as the four Hork-Bajir shoved me to the floor and rolled me onto my stomach.  
  
I struggled but it was me against four Hork-Bajir. I managed to turn my head one final time. A human controller came to join the gaggle of Hork- Bajir. He held a hypodermic needle and syringe in his hand. Normally I'm not one to be afraid of getting shots at the doctor's office, but this wasn't exactly the same thing. For one, this particular needle was huge! No lie. And I had a bad feeling about the liquid that the syringe contained. One of the Hork-Bajir pressed my face back down to the floor. Without a moment's hesitation the controller plunged the needle into the back of my neck and emptied the syringe into my system.  
  
"AAAAAAAHH!!" I shrieked in pain. I felt myself go numb for a moment as the liquid entered my body.  
  
The human backed away and the four Hork-Bajir rolled me onto my back. I lay there for a minute, staring up at the ceiling, unable to move. Suddenly Visser Three was standing over me, gloating.  
  
"What did you do to me?" I demanded feebly.  
  
{ The substance that was just introduced into your system is a virus. A quantum virus to be more precise. I'm not certain if you know how it works but you will be dead within one week. }  
  
"A little blunt there." I whispered through the lingering pain of the injection. I realized that for once in his life Visser Three was speaking in private thought speech. None of the others knew what was happening.  
  
{ What were you expecting? You humiliated me Stella. Now you must pay. You will die a slow, painful death. This virus will disintegrate your body. It was designed to attack and kill within one week. Seven days, that is all you have left. }  
  
"Hmm, have you ever seen The Ring, Visser Three?" I asked as my senses came back to me.  
  
{ What? Stop mocking me, you stupid girl! What would you say if I told you that there is a cure for this particular virus? A cure that can be found right here on Earth. Because it is hidden in a wreck about twenty miles off of your cost. The wreckage of the Andalite dome ship in fact. Unfortunately we Yeerks have not yet figured out how to develop an incurable quantum virus. }  
  
"Why did you just tell me that? Now I can go and get it any old time."  
  
{ I wouldn't recommend that, Stella. If you go after that antidote, or if you tell any of your little Andalite friends about it, I shall activate the virus that now lies dormant in their bodies. And it will cause death in a matter of hours. You would never reach the antidote in time. Would you risk all of their lives? Especially the life of a certain.........love of yours. }  
  
I stared up at him in utter horror. He knew. He knew of my love for Ax. How? But he was right. I couldn't risk Ax's life. Not if it was to save my own.  
  
"Why are you doing this? Why do you give me this hope and then snatch it away?"  
  
{ To die only a short flight away from the one thing that could have saved you. It is the worse possible punishment that I could think of for you. The virus will only be a threat to the Andalites while you still live. After a week goes by the virus will dissipate. And don't think that you can escape the virus by becoming a nothlit. The virus will simply adapt to your new body. Now I would suggest that you get out of here. This place will be underwater in two minutes. } he sneered as he began to morph.  
  
I climbed shakily to my feet.  
  
{ Stella, come on! We've got to get out of here! We're all at the boat dock waiting for you! } I heard Ax's thought speech in my head.  
  
I ran down the hallway, heading for the dock. When I finally reached it the others were already in the water in shark morph. I leapt into the pool and began to morph. One minute.  
  
When I had finished morphing we hauled butt for the tunnel that led into the open ocean. As we broke free from the base I heard the mechanical sound of submarines being launched. They were all cloaked, of coarse. I paid no attention to the base as it collapsed in on itself. I shivered inside. Whether it was from the sudden cold of the ocean or from the horrible death beginning inside of me I did not know.  
  
{ Wooooah man, we sure showed those Yeerks! Not so easy to trap us! } Rachel shouted gleefully.  
  
{ But why did they let us go at the last minute? } Cassie wondered.  
  
{ They were probably too worried about saving their own skins. But of coarse, since they let us escape they won't live very long. They'll have Visser Three to answer to for our escape. } Jake said as we swam away.  
  
I wished that I could tell them that we hadn't escaped. I hadn't escaped. The damage had been done. I couldn't escape my fate. Not now.  
  
{ But what was the deal with the needles? That was creepy. } Marco asked.  
  
{ Most likely it was some sort of tranquilizer to keep us submissive in order for them to kill us. } Ax explained.  
  
How wrong he was.  
  
{ We should be getting back. Before Cassie's parents find Gwyn in the barn. } I said. Gwyn was the only surviving member of my family. My little cousin. She was only a year old and could not come on our missions. We had given her the morphing power but she was still too young to use it. For now we hid her in Cassie's barn whenever the need arose.  
  
No one argued. A winter storm was coming up and the waves were getting rough. We needed to get out of the ocean.  
  
When we finally reached the shallower waters just off the shore we began to demorph. When I was fully human again my feet just barely touched the sandy bottom. I looked over beside me and saw Ax beginning to morph to human. A thought suddenly struck me, a fear.  
  
"Ax, do you know how to swim in a human body?!" I shouted over the screaming winds of the oncoming storm. We had never had to worry about him being able to swim because we were always able to swim closer to the shore and demorph.  
  
"What do you mea-" he didn't get a chance to finish his question. At that very moment another wave came in and swept Ax, Cassie, and I back out to see.  
  
For a minute or two I was underwater, completely disoriented. I tried to suck in air but came up with water. I thrashed wildly, trying to get my bearings. Finally I noticed the direction my trail of bubbles was going in. I fought madly in that direction and I finally broke through to the surface. I gulped lung-fulls of air.  
  
"AX! CASSIE!" I screamed through the mouthfuls of ocean water that I kept swallowing.  
  
"STELLA!"  
  
I turned around and saw Cassie swimming towards me.  
  
"Where's Ax?! Did you see what happened to him?!" I shouted frantically.  
  
"He went down! I saw him go under!" she shouted back.  
  
"NO!!"  
  
Without wasting another word I sucked in air and dove beneath the waves. I forced my eyes open, almost welcoming the pain of the salt water. I darted here and there searching for Ax. Finally I saw a human body sinking down to the bottom.  
  
My lungs were already burning for air but I didn't care. I swam down further. My ears popped painfully from the pressure. Too deep! I wouldn't reach him in time! He was too far from the surface. My lungs were screaming for oxygen. My limbs were becoming sluggish. No! I had to keep going!  
  
Finally my hands brushed against his chest. I pulled his face up to mine. Relief coursed through my body when I saw that a trail of bubbles was still drifting from his mouth. But he didn't move at all. The wave must have knocked the wind out of him.  
  
I wrapped my arms around him and began to swim for the surface. But I didn't seem to be gaining any ground. The harder I kicked the farther away we seemed to be. How could I possibly bring both of us to the surface?  
  
The pressure was beginning to lessen. My lungs were on fire. Ax felt like he weighed a thousand pounds. I couldn't go much further. I kicked desperately. How much further?  
  
Suddenly, miraculously, I broke the surface. I brought Ax up with me, bringing his face up to the air. I gasped gratefully as I coughed up seawater and drew in oxygen. I saw Cassie kicking erratically to stay afloat.  
  
"You found him!"  
  
"Cassie, can you swim to shore without help? I have to take him."  
  
"I'm all right. I can help you."  
  
"Okay, then let's go."  
  
Cassie swam over to me and slung one of Ax's limp arms around her shoulder.  
  
"Ax, please don't be dead." I whispered under my breath.  
  
Cassie and I struggled, inch by inch, to reach the shore. When we had reached the spot where we had first been swept out Ax began to revive.  
  
"Stella, what happened?"  
  
"We got taken out by the waves. We should probably teach you a little swimming technique." I said, trying to relieve the weight of the moment.  
  
"I should morph. We will get there faster." He said weakly.  
  
"No, just take it easy. We can do it."  
  
Cassie and I finally got to the point where we could stand up. We dragged Ax gently to his feet. Jake, Marco, Rachel, and Tobias all came running and flying towards us. Or, well, Tobias was flying as well as he could through the rain.  
  
"What happened to you guys?" Jake asked us.  
  
"The tide got us. Ax got dragged down and we had to go after him." Cassie answered calmly.  
  
Jake stepped forward and put his arm around Cassie's shoulders.  
  
"Come on. We have the clothes. They didn't get taken this time." Jake said as he led Cassie away.  
  
The others slowly followed them. Ax and I stayed behind for a few minutes. I needed to switch to my alter identity, Kim. As I started to morph Ax spoke to me.  
  
"You saved my life, Stella."  
  
"I'm a good swimmer." I answered coolly, not wanting to make a big deal out of it.  
  
"Could you teach me to swim in this human body?"  
  
"Maybe.........when the weather gets better. It-it couldn't be that hard for you to learn." I stuttered. I was fully into the Kim morph now.  
  
I started to walk away but Ax pulled me back. He wrapped his arms around me and drew my face up to his own. I forgot everything, even the driving rain on my back, as Ax pressed his lips against mine. He pulled me tightly into his embrace and we clung to each other for what seemed like hours. I kissed him back, just as warmly, just as passionately.  
  
"Um.....hey guys....you wanna get a move on. You know, before somebody finds us here." I heard Rachel suggest nervously.  
  
"Oh.....um.....yeah, sure." I said sadly as I pulled away from Ax.  
  
"Thank you, Stella." He said as he walked off to join the others.  
  
As I stood there watching him walk away I felt a chill pass through my body again. The virus.  
  
One week, seven days. Would I even live to see Christmas morning?  
  
* *  
* 


	3. Searching for an Answer

(A/N) Sharina, thanks for reviewing again. Guardians of the Elements is going great. Tabatha, nice to see you again. Thanks for reviewing. Alanzia, thanks for reviewing. Anonymous, thanks for reviewing again. Elski, thanks for reviewing, and for the support. And you make an excellent point with the visser having them all trapped. But, like you said, if he did infest them there would be no story. In other words, I couldn't come up with a reason for it. You caught me ( As for you, TheSilverWolf, the review system is supposed to be used for a person to give constructive criticism, not to flame someone if you have a problem with their writing. I thank you for taking the time to review at all, but writing MARY-SUE!! A hundred times over is not only childish, but a waste of yours and my time. It is also a waste of space. And if you presume to call Stella a Mary-Sue you obviously do not know the whole story. If you have something helpful to say to improve my writing I will gladly accept it but if this is all that you have to say, then I would suggest that you keep such comments to yourself. Oh well, I suppose that you are entitled to your opinion.  
  
Follow the Star Chapter 3: Searching for an Answer  
  
It had been five days since the incident at the underwater Yeerk base. It was now the evening of the fifth day. Cassie said that we should be expecting snow. If it did end up snowing then Ax, Gwyn, and I would have to move into Cassie's barn. At least until Ax and I finished building what he called a scoop. It's what Andalites call home. As far as I could gather it was a giant hole in the ground with a cover over it.  
  
Now I was flying through the night sky, over the forest. Marco, Jake, Rachel, and Cassie would all be at home now, sleeping. Tobias would be in his meadow. Ax and Gwyn were back at our little clearing. Whereas, I was just out flying by myself, heading to a place where I could be alone with my thoughts. A lone cliff that towered above the sea. Ax and I considered it to be our special place. We often went there just to be alone or to talk. It was the first place where I had really tested out a morph. I had asked Tobias to bring Ax and I there so I could try out a little scheme of mine. I had jumped off of the cliff and morphed to peregrine falcon at the last minute. Even now, months later, the memory was still fresh. That feeling of free falling.  
  
When I arrived I didn't demorph right away. When I was in morph I didn't feel the pain of the virus. The effects of the virus hadn't yet shown up on the surface, but they were there. I could feel it as my internal organs slowly disintegrated. Not enough to kill me just yet, but enough so that I could feel the agony. Thus far I had managed to keep my symptoms hidden from Ax and the other Animorphs. I had to keep it hidden for as long as possible so that they wouldn't ask questions.  
  
Eventually my time limit ran out and I had to demorph. As I returned to my own body the pain also returned with it. My muscles seized up with pain. My skin was even paler than usual because there was less blood in my system. It felt like there were a thousand knives stabbing me all over my body. The chill of death was slowly creeping into the corners of my mind. The pain was intense but I kept myself from crying out. There was nothing that could save me now except for that antidote. But it was twenty miles away at the bottom of the ocean. I couldn't get it without risking Ax's life.  
  
To divert my mind away from the pain I let my mind wonder. I mulled over the many battles that I had fought since I had joined the Animorphs. We had helped start a colony of free Hork-Bajir. We had met up with the Chee Androids. They had become powerful allies. We had learned that not all Yeerks were ruthless conquerors. Some were in favor of peace with the humans. We had met one Yeerk, Aftran, who had willingly sacrificed a life with sight and pleasure so that one little girl could be free. We had also seen the morphing power misused by someone other than Visser Three. David.  
  
I had been the first to find the morphing cube. It was the reason that I lived in the forest now. But the Ellimist had come to me during a battle with Visser Three and made me swear to rehide the cube. I had done just that and a few months later David turned up with it. Visser Three had discovered him and he turned both of his parents into controllers. We had made David into an Animorph. But he ended up betraying us on a very important mission. He tried to throw in his lot with Visser Three but we were able to stop him. Visser Three offered him a way out. He told David to meet him at the ruins of his old house. Jake knew that we had been betrayed and he had Tobias follow David. Jake, Ax , and I followed them. Jake and Ax got lost, but I managed to keep up with them. That final conversation with David still haunts me.  
  
* * *  
  
When I flew in through the hole that used to be David's window, the first thing that I saw was David in human form, sitting on his bed. A crumpled pile of feathers lay next to him. Tobias!  
  
"What have you done David?!" I shouted as I morphed back to human.  
  
"Oh, you mean Tobias? He's dead if that's what you were wondering."  
  
How could he be so casual about it? He had just taken a life for no reason at all. What had Tobias ever done to him? As I stared at the lifeless red-tailed hawk I began to remember my own parents. They had been killed too. For no reason at all.  
  
"Hurting innocent people is something I don't tolerate." I hissed.  
  
"People? What do you mean people? He was just a filthy animal. I would never kill a human."  
  
"How could you betray us like this? You don't really believe that Visser Three will free your parents? He's a ruthless murderer!"  
  
"Don't be stupid. I'm not really going to turn myself over to him. But I do want something from you."  
  
"What?"  
  
"The morphing cube. Why don't you join me Stella? We're not so different. I've watched you. You're no Animorph. You're just like me. Dragged into this whole war against your will. Forced to live in the woods. What does being an Animorph have to offer you?"  
  
"I'm nothing like you, David. I don't know what you are but you're the one who is no Animorph. What kind of twisted human being are you?"  
  
"You want to know who I am. Then you'll know yourself."  
  
"No! That's not true!"  
  
"Oh, no? Aren't you just like me? Using the Animorphs for personal means."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"You're not part of their group. As soon as Visser Three is dead you'll pack up and leave. What happens after this is all over? What sort of life is there for you now? There's nothing to hold you to them."  
  
"You're wrong!"  
  
"Oh, right. Your precious little Andalite. There's nothing to hold you to him either. As soon as his friends show up, what do you think he'll do? He isn't going to stay here. He'll drop you in a second. These Yeerks seem like the winners in this little game and you guys are wasting your time trying to stop them. Are you sure you're on the right side?"  
  
"At least I have chosen a side." I answered, trying not to let him know that his words had hit their mark.  
  
"Come with me, Stella. The Animorphs don't really care about you. They'd turn you over to the Yeerks in a heartbeat. No one cares about you. You'll never belong to him."  
  
Slowly, I sank to the floor.  
  
"No! It's not true!" I cried out in a choked sob.  
  
"Why fight it? Why not give into the truth?"  
  
"Please, don't do this."  
  
"Just give me the morphing cube. Let it end here. You can be free."  
  
I had fought many battles. Why was just one boy able to bring me down after all that I had been through? Was it because he spoke the truth? No! It couldn't be! I could not let him defeat me. I couldn't give up without a fight.  
  
"Clever little psychology trick but it won't work on me." I said as I began to morph to rattle snake.  
  
"So who do you think will win? Rattle snake or golden eagle?" he said as he too began to morph. { Well that just depends on who's faster, now doesn't it? } I answered.  
  
I didn't even give him a chance to finish morphing. As soon as my fangs sprouted and filled with poison I sprang. I clamped my jaw down on his feather-covered forearm. I pumped my snake venom into his system.  
  
Before I knew what was happening he had grabbed me with half-formed fingers that were slowly melting into wings. For as long as he had power in his hands he strangled me. When the fingers finally disappeared he flung me across the room. Life barely lingered in my snake body.  
  
{ I guess that answers that question. } David sneered as he winged his way over to me. He raised his eagle head over me and lifted me up in his jaw.  
  
{ No. No, you can't- }  
  
{ Can't what? Eagles eat snakes. I'm not going to lose one bit of sleep over this you know. } he said this without a trace of emotion as he clamped his beak down on me even tighter.  
  
I let my human mind overcome the calm snake instinct. I blacked out. Blacked out from the terror of being eaten alive by a fellow Animorph.  
  
But just as my conscious mind faded I heard a voice in my head.  
  
{ DAVID! PUT HER DOWN NOW!!! }  
  
* * *  
  
Jake had saved my life that night. It turned out that it hadn't been Tobias lying dead in David's room. It had been an innocent red-tailed hawk just minding his own business when David attacked it. David had nearly destroyed us all and gotten clean away with the morphing cube. But we trapped him in the end. Trapped him as a rat. As a nothlit. The others seemed haunted by what we had done to him but I wasn't. In my opinion it was no more or less than he deserved. He had dug his own grave.  
  
It sounded harsh, even to me, but I had become a harsh person ever since I first heard the word Animorph.  
  
But since then not a day has gone by when I haven't wondered. Did I do the right thing? Could there have been a way to save David from the path that he chose? Was it my fault that he had gone so wrong? Maybe if I had disobeyed the Ellimist and kept the morphing cube he would still be human. Why had the Ellimist wanted things to go so badly? Who had condemned David to that fate? Had it been the Ellimist? Or had it been me?  
  
And what of his last words to me? Was he right about me? Was I no better than he was? If the notion ever entered my head would I use the morphing power for evil? Did I have the strength to resist? Could I succeed where David had failed? Was that same greed planted in my own heart?  
  
* * *  
  
I do not know why I woke up, but when I did the first thing that I noticed was that Stella was gone. Gwyn was still wrapped up in her blanket but Stella's was empty. I immediately began to morph to northern harrier. I knew where she had gone.  
  
As soon as the morph was complete I shot off into the sky. The moon was hidden and the night was dark, but the way was familiar to me. Stella and I sometimes went back to that cliff. More often she would go there by herself. I had expressed my concern for her going off by herself but she didn't seem to notice. There were still places inside of her that even I could not reach.  
  
Why had she left on this night? What was wrong now? She had seemed unusually quiet ever since the battle at the Yeerk base.  
  
The flight to the cliff took an hour. When I arrived I saw Stella sitting very close to the edge of the cliff, staring out to sea.  
  
{ Stella, why are you out here? }  
  
She didn't answer. She simply continued to stare blankly ahead.  
  
{ Stella! }  
  
"Huh? Oh, Ax. Sorry, I- I didn't see you land."  
  
{ Why are you out here tonight? It is awfully cold. } I said as I began to demorph.  
  
"I was just.........thinking."  
  
{ About David again? }  
  
"Yes. How did you guess?"  
  
{ I do not know. }  
  
With that she turned her face away from me again.  
  
"Ax, was it my fault?"  
  
{ Was what your fault? }  
  
"David. He came into the Animorphs the exact same way that I did. Could I maybe have understood him better? Turned him around."  
  
{ No Stella. What happened to David was not your doing. He chose his own path. }  
  
"But could I have prevented it? And........if not, am I no better than him?"  
  
{ How could you even think that? Look what David chose to do with his life, and look where it got him. You, on the other hand, have used the morphing for good. There was.........a darkness in him that he could not escape. }  
  
"Maybe there's a darkness in me too." she said sadly.  
  
{ Stella....... } I didn't know what else to say. There was only one thing that I could think of that would comfort her. So I started to morph to human. My many fingers melded together to form stronger human fingers. My arms increased in power and my blue fur became tan human flesh. My stalk eyes receded into my head to be replaced with brown human hair. My face split to become the mouth and my human nose sprouted. My tail became limp and receded into my spine. My forelegs receded into my chest. For a moment I stumbled about on my two puny human legs. But I quickly regained my balance. As soon as the transformation was complete I sat down beside Stella.  
  
"Ax........are you happy here?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I know that you miss your family and your home and all of that, but......are you happy here? With me?"  
  
"So long as you are here, Stella. I will be happy on Earth."  
  
"I mean when the Andalites do come. Would you leave me here if it meant seeing your people again?"  
  
I hesitated for a moment before answering. Would I choose Stella over my own people? Love over duty? It was a question that no Andalite warrior should have to answer. We are taught to believe that duty comes above all else. If I had fallen in love with an Andalite female she would have understood that. But Stella was human. What could I say to this question?  
  
"If the time does come...........then I will choose you." I answered softly.  
  
"What makes you so sure?" she asked. She doubted my sincerity.  
  
How could I prove to her that her love meant more to me than just about anything? That I valued her life above my own.  
  
The answer struck me like lightening.  
  
I gently wrapped my human arms around her shoulders and turned her head to face mine. I gazed deeply into her storm gray eyes.  
  
"This." As I spoke I drew her face ever closer to mine. The look in her eyes became vague and faraway as we joined our lips.  
  
She surrendered herself to my touch. As I tightened my grip on her shoulders she brought up her hands and ran one of them through my hair. The other one she placed on the back of my neck. As her hand met with the bare flesh of my neck something that felt a lot like an electric current swept through my entire body.  
  
When we broke apart for a brief moment and I gazed back into her eyes a memory drifted to the surface of my mind. A memory from a thousand light years away and many Earth months in the past. On an Andalite ship called the Ascalin.  
  
* *  
*  
  
My human friends and I had morphed an Earth bug called mosquito in order to complete a mission. But when we were all in morph we suddenly found ourselves in Z-space. We would have died except that an Andalite ship, the Ascalin, happened to be passing by. It saved us. The ship was captained by an Andalite called Samilin-Corrath-Gahar. The humans had been taken to the sick bay and were being held there. I had gone to visit them.  
  
"So let me get this straight. Suddenly we're a bazillion miles from home and we're about to get dragged into a serious shooting war where the good guys are outnumbered three to one?" Rachel asked me.  
  
{ Yes. }  
  
"Cool. What can we do to help?" she asked enthusiastically.  
  
"Oh, even for you, Rachel, that is just sick." Marco said.  
  
{ You can do nothing. I told you the kafit bird morph that Visser Three used is from my home planet. That means our side may be infiltrated by Yeerks or their allies. We can't trust your secret to anyone. If you do get back to Earth somehow, you won't survive if the Yeerks find out who you are. }  
  
"If you get back to Earth? Meaning you won't be going back with us?" Cassie asked with a sad sort of smile.  
  
Even before the question had left Cassie's mouth Stella had turned away from me. She walked away from the group and did not turn back. I tried to go after her but Rachel was already on me again.  
  
"I have news for you, Ax. If there's some Yeerk butt-kicking being done today, I'm in on it."  
  
{ We have to follow the captain's orders. }  
  
"Says who?" Marco asked. The challenge in his voice was plain to be heard,  
  
{ I am just a lowly Aristh. Like a human cadet. I have to follow orders. } I answered weakly. { You have to understand. You are no longer my prince, now that I am back among my own people. } I told Prince Jake.  
  
{ Maybe you need to think about who your people are now. } Tobias told me privately.  
  
{ I'm not you, Tobias. I'm not a nothlit. I'm not one species trapped in the body of another. } I tried to argue.  
  
{ No. But I don't think you're just a lowly Aristh anymore, either. And whether you like it or not, you're one of us. }  
  
{ The captain has ordered that until the situation is stable, you must all remain here. In this room. Please do not attempt to move about the ship. } I told them gently.  
  
As I was turning to leave Stella turned back to me. It nearly broke my hearts to see the hurt look in her eyes.  
  
"Will you come back?"  
  
{ Of coarse. } I told her as I took a step back towards her.  
  
She shook her head remorsefully.  
  
"You're lying. You've made your choice." She said sadly.  
  
I had hurt her. I had hurt her more deeply than anyone would ever know. I had promised her that I would always stay with her. Now at the first test I had betrayed her. But how could she expect me to make such a promise? I couldn't just stay on Earth forever.  
  
But as I looked back at her I began to see how she could cling to such a futile promise. Everyone that she had ever loved in her life had been taken away from her, one by one. At first she had been hesitant to accept my love for her. Maybe she was afraid that if she committed herself that I would just leave her like everyone else had. And I had gone and proved her right.  
  
For a long while the two of us just stood, staring at each other. Suddenly she stepped towards me and flung her arms around me.  
  
"Please, don't leave me. I need you." She whispered as she clung to me.  
  
I hugged her back, wishing that I didn't have to leave. But I finally, reluctantly, pulled myself away from her. I took her face in my hands.  
  
{ I will come back for you. I promise. } I whispered privately to her.  
  
As I backed away from her I saw a single tear fall down her cheek. I was the only one to see it.  
  
* * *  
  
It turned out that Captain Samilin was a traitor. He sided with the Yeerks. He ended up getting himself and the entire crew of the Ascalin killed. No one survived but my human friends and I. We ended up performing a dangerous mission to help the Andalite forces destroy the only continent on planet Leera. As far as I know we saved the Leerans from the Yeerks. We had made it back to Earth safely. But since then Stella's faith in me had been completely shaken. She had been strangely distant towards me since we returned. We still had those small, stolen moments, but it wasn't the same. That fear of being abandoned had returned. She seemed almost afraid of me nowadays.  
  
Even now, as I held her in my arms I could feel her trembling. Was it from cold.........or fear?  
  
How could I ever gain back her trust?  
  
"Stella, are you all right?"  
  
"Of coarse. Why wouldn't I be?"  
  
"You're trembling." I pointed out.  
  
"I'm not trembling." She flat-out denied it.  
  
"We should probably be getting back."  
  
"Maybe." She said reluctantly.  
  
Suddenly I began to feel little droplets of water all over my body. I looked around but it didn't look like it was raining.  
  
"What's happening?"  
  
"Huh?" Stella wondered. She began to look around too. She raised one hand up into the air and turned her face skywards. Then she began to giggle.  
  
"Oh, Ax. It's only snow. It's the first snow of the season. Doesn't it snow on the Andalite home world?"  
  
"Very rarely, actually. My home is mostly tropical or temperate. It only snows on the northern and southern most points of the planet. Few Andalites ever see snow." I explained.  
  
"Oh. Well, it's a pretty common thing here."  
  
With that I began to demorph.  
  
"Now we really should be heading back. If it's not cold now it will be soon." Stella said as she wrapped her arms around herself.  
  
{ Yes. We need to get to Cassie's barn. But we will need to stop and get Gwyn. } I said as the last of the transformation was completed.  
  
"Right." She said as she began to morph to peregrine falcon.  
  
I followed her example and soon there was a northern harrier and a peregrine falcon winging through the falling snow.  
  
When we arrived at the clearing it was already snowing hard. We both demorphed and Stella woke Gwyn.  
  
"Gwyn. Wake up. We need to move to the barn now." She said as she shook her cousin gently awake.  
  
"Barn. Animals?" Gwyn asked as she climbed out of the sleeping bag.  
  
"Yes, animals. But you have to help me carry our things."  
  
Gwyn just smiled sleepily and tried to pick up her blanket.  
  
"This isn't going to work. Ax, would you mind morphing to human and helping me carry the stuff?"  
  
{ No, of coarse not. }  
  
By the time I had finished morphing Stella had managed to pack all of her meager belongings into her backpack. She rolled up the two sleeping bags and handed one of them to me. She slung the backpack onto her shoulders and picked up the second sleeping bag. She took Gwyn's hand and led the way through the forest. We didn't speak the whole way there.  
  
When we finally reached Cassie's home I saw that the fields were covered with a thick blanket of snow. My breath came out as a cloud of steam. Cassie had managed to leave the barn door unlocked for us. Relief coursed through my body as we entered the warm barn. My feet were practically numb from walking through the snow. Stella led he way up to the loft. I hesitated for a moment at what Stella called a ladder.  
  
"Stella, how does one climb this contraption? Tra-puh. Trap-shun."  
  
"It's easy." She said as she climbed back down and took the second sleeping bag from me. "Just follow me and take it one step at a time."  
  
With that she scaled the ladder and disappeared into the loft. I grabbed the ladder rungs with a death grip. Then I took a step onto one of the lower ones. I grabbed the next rung up and took another step. This went on for what seemed like hours. I half expected the ladder to fall over at any second.  
  
But I finally reached the top and stumbled breathlessly onto the loft. I lay there for a few minutes, breathing very hard in sheer relief. I eventually climbed to my feet and looked around for Stella and Gwyn. When I finally did see them my heart nearly stopped beating.  
  
The sleeping bags and the backpack lay in a corner. Stella had collapsed just a few feet from them. She was lying on her stomach, not moving. Gwyn sat beside her, trying to shake her awake.  
  
"Stella!" I shouted as I knelt down beside her.  
  
I turned her onto her back. She was sweating profusely and her breathing was ragged. She was shaking uncontrollably.  
  
"What happened?!" I asked urgently.  
  
She didn't answer. She just stared sadly back at me with her gray eyes. As I pulled my hand away from her arm I saw her skin seemingly shift and distort itself.  
  
"AAAH!!" she cried out in pain. As I stared down at her in horror her legs began to twist and distort until they looked more like tentacles than human legs. It wasn't morphing. It was out-right mutation. There was only one thing in the universe that I knew of that could cause such a change. That liquid in the injections. How had I not seen it? How could I have been so foolish?!  
  
"Quantum virus." I whispered in utter horror and fear.  
  
* * * 


	4. Into the Void

(A/N) Tabatha, thanks for reviewing again. Same to you Qenies9, Sharina, Silvarius, and Fuzy Llama. Your reviews are much appreciated. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside :) Okay, sorry about that. We'll get back on track. Stella has been struck down with a quantum virus. The only thing that can save her lies at the bottom of the ocean and if she tells any of her friends about it they will be struck down by the same virus in a matter of hours. What's to become of the Animorphs? Can they possibly survive? Oh, the suspense! The inhumanity!! To be or not to be! That.........is the question! Woah, woah, woah. Sorry, kinda lost control there for a minute. I'm gonna quit rambling now, okay?  
  
Follow the Star  
  
Chapter 4: Into the Void  
  
"Ax, slow down. We already know that Andalites have used quantum viruses before on the Hork-Bajir home world. Now can you tell us what a quantum virus is exactly?" Jake asked Ax, trying to calm him.  
  
{ I should have seen it before! There cannot possibly be any help for her now! } Ax was, quite literally, freaking out.  
  
As soon as the sun had risen Ax had morphed to human and gone for Cassie and Tobias. Cassie, in turn, had gotten messages to the other three Animorphs. Now we were all in Cassie's barn, even though it was still snowing hard. My condition hadn't really improved much during the night. As I knew it wouldn't. My legs had looked like tentacles during most of the night but now the legs below the knees had completely disintegrated. Almost as if they had never been there. It terrified me but I tried to keep it together for the sake of the others. The pain was intensifying with every passing minute. I had one more day left.  
  
{ This is all my fault. I should have realized- } Ax was cut off mid sentence by Rachel. She had slapped him across the face.  
  
"Snap out of it, Ax. You've been pacing and blaming yourself for the last thirty minutes. That isn't going to get us anywhere. Now.........can you tell us what a quantum virus does?"  
  
For a moment Ax just stood there staring at her, shocked. But he finally found his voice.  
  
{ A quantum virus is a sort of disease of space-time. It slowly breaks down the force that holds subatomic particles together. It will slowly disintegrate whatever it affects. Living creatures affected with a quantum virus will find their very molecules breaking down. It is the most agonizing death known to any sentient creature. } Ax finished sadly.  
  
"Isn't there anything that we can do?" Cassie asked him.  
  
{ Normally quantum viruses bypass all possible counter measures. But there may be some hope here. The Yeerks are not too technologically advanced. I believe that the substance that was introduced into our systems was the virus. Although I cannot understand why it is only affecting Stella and not us. But because it was manufactured by the Yeerks there may be a cure. } he speculated.  
  
"What sort of cure?" Rachel asked.  
  
{ That is the problem! I have no idea! } Ax shouted in a frustrated voice.  
  
"Ax, just calm down. It won't help for you to lose control. You're the only one who could posibly come up with an antidote." Jake said.  
  
{ But it would take me months to come up with something like that. I doubt that Stella has that much time. } Ax said as he glanced over at me.  
  
He was right. I didn't have that much time.  
  
"Just don't get your hopes up. I only have one day left." I said angrily. No sooner had the words left my mouth then I realized my mistake. All six of them turned to look at me.  
  
{ How do you know that, Stella? } Tobias asked me from his perch in the rafters.  
  
"Um......I don't know. I'm just guessing." I knew they didn't believe me.  
  
"You know something, Stella. Tell us." Jake said.  
  
"I........I can't-"  
  
{ Stella, you must. Your life depends on it. What do you know about this virus that you aren't telling us? } Ax asked me.  
  
"I can't tell you. You will destroy yourselves." I whispered.  
  
"Oh come on. We've been through more suicidal missions than I can remember. What makes you think we can't take on whatever Visser Three has planned?" Marco asked.  
  
"This is different. You wouldn't have a chance. Just forget about it. It's too late."  
  
{ Stella, I will not abandon you again. I will not see you die like this! Tell me. Please. } Ax begged me in private thought speak. As he gazed down at me I stared back into his fierce green eyes. I was frightened by what I saw in them. A haunted desperation.  
  
Ax lowered himself to his four knees. An act that was difficult for any Andalite. Slowly he drew his tail blade forward. For a moment I was afraid that his desperation had driven him over the edge and that he would use it on me. He caressed my neck with the flat of the blade but ended up bringing it to his own throat.  
  
"What are you-"  
  
{ If you insist on keeping your silence then I shall die as well. Speak, or I will use the blade on myself. }  
  
He was serious! I heard the fear in his voice, but I knew that he meant it.  
  
"Ax, please......don't do this."  
  
He took my hands in his own weak, Andalite ones. We were both trembling. I wanted to tell him. I really did. But if I spoke then he would die anyway. They would all be destroyed. I had to stand by my decision. I steeled my face and stared coldly back at Ax.  
  
"I'll take my secret to the grave."  
  
"Woah, that's a little harsh. Don't you think, Stella?" Marco said.  
  
Ax didn't answer to this. He simply gripped my hands tighter. He pressed his tail blade more firmly against his neck. A small trickle of his own blood dripped down from the place where the blade was pressed. I heard him cry out silently in my own head. That cry filled me with an anguish deeper than the virus could ever produce.  
  
"AAAAAAAAHH!!!" I cried out in sudden pain. The pain attacked me with a vengeance. When I looked back down at my half-legs I saw them disintegrating further. The blood and guts right along with them. Even my arms were beginning the slow, agonizing mutation towards oblivion. How could I possibly pass the same agony along to Ax?  
  
I slumped forward in agony. Ax moved his hands to my shoulders and held me upright. As he stared back at me I felt my own resolve melting away.  
  
"All right! Fine! I'll tell you! Just stop it, Ax! Stop it!!" As I spoke I felt the tears coming. I bowed my head, not willing to let the others see my weakness.  
  
Ax pulled his tail blade away from his throat. I saw the relief blossom on his face like the sweetest flower bursting into bloom.  
  
"You are right, Ax. It is a quantum virus. You all have it too. It's only dormant. But it will be activated if.......if-"  
  
"If what?" Jake demanded.  
  
"If I tell you about it."  
  
Even before I had finished speaking Marco cried out in pain. I saw him sink to his knees. I watched in horror as his hands began to twist and mutate. Not morphing, just terrifying, awful mutation.  
  
"Marco!" Jake cried out as he knelt beside his best friend. But I saw what Jake had not yet noticed. His own arms were already changing and mutating.  
  
"Jake!-" Rachel started towards her cousin but she too dropped to the floor in screaming agony.  
  
"What's happening?" Cassie asked.  
  
"It's the virus. Why did you all bring me to this?" I asked sadly. But even as I spoke I knew that there was no one else to blame for this except me. I turned away from the three only to see Ax, still on his knees, slowly mutating. I heard his screaming in my head once again. I had brought him to this.  
  
"Why did you do it, Stella? Now we'll all die." Cassie whispered in a frightened voice.  
  
"No, we might live. Ax was right about there being a cure. But it is hidden in the wreckage of the Andalite dome ship. Twenty miles off the cost. We can go after it." I said.  
  
Suddenly I realized something.  
  
"Why isn't the virus affecting you or Tobias?" I asked Cassie. For indeed, Tobias was still perched in the rafters, seemingly unaffected. Cassie was still standing and she wasn't mutating at all.  
  
{ Of course! Some creatures have a natural imunity to quantum viruses. } Ax said suddenly. { It must be so with Cassie and Tobias. }  
  
"Then there's still hope?" I asked him.  
  
{ Yes, we could- reach the antidote. Before it's too late. } he gasped.  
  
"Then we'll- split up. Tobias stays here with Stella, Marco, and Rachel. Cassie, Ax and I will go after the antidote." Jake said.  
  
"I'll go with you." Rachel volunteered.  
  
"No, Rachel, I don't want all of us on this mission in our condition. Cassie goes because she's still well. Ax goes because he knows the dome ship. And I won't risk anyone else. You three will stay here with Tobias. Stella has suffered enough from this as it is."  
  
"I should go. This is all my fault." I said to Jake.  
  
"No. You are in no condition to do this mission."  
  
"What? And I suppose you are?"  
  
Jake was silent after that. But he began to morph to falcon anyway. Cassie followed his lead and morphed to Osprey.  
  
{ Ax, maybe you should stay behind. } Cassie suggested as she completed the morph.  
  
{ No, Cassie. I must do this. Besides, you and Prince Jake do not know the lay out of the Dome ship. I do. } Ax said as he began to morph to harrier.  
  
"But you guys might get lost in this snow. Maybe you should wait until it lessens up a bit." I said desperately.  
  
{ We'll have to risk it. We might not even have that long. } Jake said gravely.  
  
{ Well, we fought the good fight. This could be it. } Tobias said.  
  
{ I know. } Jake replied.  
  
Cassie sidled over to Jake. It looked sort of strange to see a falcon and Osprey together like that. But hey, you might have a tendency to express yourself if you were facing certain doom like we were now.  
  
Ax seemed to hesitate mid morph and went back to Andalite. Then he morphed something else. Human.  
  
{ Ax, what are you doing? We have to leave. }  
  
"No. Not yet, Prince Jake."  
  
He knelt beside me and lifted my upper body into his arms.  
  
"Stella, forgive me, please."  
  
Forgive him? Forgive him for what? What had he done? As I thought back I started to realize what it was. Ax never showed it openly or mentioned it but he still felt guilty about what happened on Leera. When he deserted us for Samilin and Samilin had betrayed him. Ax knew that he had hurt me. I don't think that either of us had ever gotten over it. I was still afraid that he didn't really want to be with me and that he would leave me again the first chance he got. He was still feeling guilty and afraid that I would never trust him again. Those fears still lingered in me but I had learned to live with them. I knew that I could trust him again with time. But he didn't seem to know that.  
  
"I do forgive you." I whispered as he lowered his face to mine.  
  
"I love you." He whispered against my mouth.  
  
"I love you, too." I whispered back to him as he pulled himself away from me and lowered me back to the ground. Then he began to demorph.  
  
{ Hurry up, Ax. We're running out of time. } Jake said urgently.  
  
When all three of them were finally ready they shot off into the driving snow.  
  
"We're counting on you guys!" I shouted after them.  
  
I sat staring out into the storm for what seemed like hours after they had gone. In that time, Rachel and Marco made their way to one of the empty stalls so as not to be seen in case Cassie's dad came out. Finally Tobias fluttered down to speak to me.  
  
{ Stella, maybe you should go into the stall with the other two. You need to lie down. }  
  
I didn't answer him. My only response was the single tear that fell from my eye.  
  
* * *  
  
It took us thirty minutes to fly from the barn to the beach. When we reached it we all demorphed. When we were all in our true forms I was horrified to discover that our excess mass had continued to disintegrate while we were in morph. Prince Jake was missing a leg and an arm. Cassie helped him to stand. When I swiveled my stalk eyes around to see what damage the virus had done to me, I realized that I only had one stalk eye. My tail was vanishing rapidly and half of my right arm was gone.  
  
"So, w-w-w-what's the plan? I d-d-d-don't think we w-w-want to b-b-be standing on the b-b-beach in the middle of a b-b-b-blizzard." Cassie said as her teeth chattered. I have seen my human friends do this before. I believe that it is an expression of cold.  
  
"We'll morph d-d-d-dolphins and swim there. It's t-t-too far t-t-t-to fly in the snow." Prince Jake said as Cassie led him out into the water.  
  
I followed them into the water. The cold struck me immediately. As we walked further out into the surf I saw Prince Jake put his arms around Cassie's shivering form. I could barely make them out through the snow. When we were far enough out into the ocean we regrouped to morph. I saw that both Cassie's and Prince Jake's lips had turned blue.  
  
"W-w-we'd better hurry b-b-before we freeze to d-d-death." Cassie said as she began to morph. Prince Jake began the morph right along with her. I hesitated for a moment, then I too began to morph.  
  
As soon as we had all morphed to dolphin we shot off through the water. We swam lower to avoid the rough waves. For awhile it seemed that we were swimming blindly, even with the echolocation. I knew that Prince Jake and Cassie had forgotten the way to the dome ship, but I never would. You could wait a hundred years and then tell me to find my way back to it. I would always be able to find the spot where our great dome ship had gone down. Some part of me would always remain at the bottom of Earth's ocean with it. It had been my home away from home for many months before coming to Earth.  
  
Now I began to wonder. Once I returned to the dome ship would I ever leave it? Cassie and Prince Jake had each other in this bleak moment. These moments might be the last that they had together if we didn't reach the antidote in time. The same held true for Tobias and Rachel. They were together for now. But what of Stella and myself? Would I ever see her again? Would I die here in this cold, heartless ocean knowing that I had failed to save her?  
  
Would that last, brief kiss be the last that I ever gave her? If only I could experience just once before I died......  
  
{ Stop thinking like that! You are not going to die, Aximili! } I rebuked myself.  
  
We swam and swam through the darkening waters. My thoughts darkening along with it. Until we finally reached the spot above the dome ship. It was hidden beneath tons of water but I knew it was there.  
  
{ Prince Jake, we have only five of your minutes left in morph. We must demorph here and now. Then I would recommend that we morph to shark to search. I know that the dome ship is far beneath the surface and that the dolphins need to breath air. }  
  
{ Don't call me prince. And that sounds like a good plan to me. } Prince Jake said as he began to demorph.  
  
When I finally had eye lids to close, I shut them tightly. So as not to see what further damage the virus had done to Prince Jake and I.  
  
Almost immediately I began the morph to shark. I ignored the changes as best I could. My thoughts were back at the barn. With Stella, Rachel, and Marco.  
  
{ Are you guys ready? } Cassie asked us as we completed the morph.  
  
{ Yeah. Let's get it over with. } Prince Jake said.  
  
With that we began the descent to the ship. It took no more than fifteen minutes but it seemed like hours. When my shark eyes finally beheld the remains of my old ship I very nearly cried out in shock.  
  
The dome had been completely destroyed. All that remained was the floor of the ship. Some of the trees and plants still remained, but most of them were just blackened remains. This blow from the Yeerks cut me deeply. The last trace of my home on planet Earth.........destroyed. I was only glad that Elfangor wasn't alive to see this. It would have broken his hearts.  
  
{ Oh my God. } Cassie whispered in horror as we descended into the remains of the dome ship.  
  
I was silent as we swam through the ghost of what had once been a small piece of my home. The grass waved with the ocean currents. I shivered inside as we passed burnt, tree stumps. It was almost as if the trees were people and their dead spirits called out to me. That I could feel the pain that they felt when the Yeerks had draconed the dome ship.  
  
{ So evil. } I whispered. I didn't think that I had spoken out loud until Cassie swam up beside me and spoke to me.  
  
{ I know. It's awful, isn't it? }  
  
{ I didn't want to believe it. I wanted to come back and find that the Yeerks had left it alone. But no, how could they? They are destroyers of life. All life. } I said sadly.  
  
{ I guess we should split up and search for the medicine or whatever it is. } Prince Jake suggested.  
  
{ Of coarse. } I said as I split off from them. I swam around, searching for anything out of the ordinary.  
  
I swam for quite awhile, searching for I don't know what. Until I heard Cassie's voice from across the plain.  
  
{ AX! JAKE! I think I found something! } she shouted.  
  
I hurriedly swam in her direction. I found Cassie and Prince Jake at the base of an uprooted tree. It was, in fact, the only tree that was still in one piece in the whole park. Nestled in the tangled roots was a small canister.  
  
{ That must be it! } I said triumphantly.  
  
Cassie reached her shark snout into roots and clamped her jaws around the canister. She struggled for a few minutes and finally pulled it loose.  
  
{ Got it! } she shouted as she came up from the tangled mess of roots.  
  
{ We've got to hurry. Time's running out. } Prince Jake said worriedly.  
  
Just as we were about to swim away I gazed up at the tree. To my horror I found that it was a therant tree. Many therant trees have been known to have "voices" in a manner of speaking. There had been a therant tree on my parents' land. Elfangor and I had called it Hala Fala. When I had joined the military and completed acadamy training I was assigned to this dome ship. I had "spoken" with this tree many times. It had heard my fear of being so far from home. It had heard that I was proud to be fighting against the Yeerks. This tree had been the only living thing that heard me when I was a lowly aristh. I had become much more than that since then but I still remembered this therant. I pressed my shark snout against the bark of the tree. I felt nothing from it. Dead, like all the others.  
  
Sadly, I turned away from the tree and swam to rejoin Prince Jake and Cassie.  
  
{ All right. We may leave now. } I said dully.  
  
Suddenly I heard a voice from somewhere in the distance. A voice that I recognized. A voice that would habe sent a chill down my spine if I'd had one.  
  
{ You were fools to come here, Andalites! Now you shall never leave! }  
  
Swimming towards us out of the blackness of the ocean came a creature that I had only seen once before. A Lebtin Javelin fish. A giant, yellow ray that shot spears from it's mouth.  
  
{ Visser Three. } I hissed contemptuously.  
  
{ He was waiting for us. } Cassie whispered.  
  
{ Well this is one battle that we cannot afford to lose, my friends. } I said as I steeled myself for battle.  
  
* * * 


	5. Keeping the Faith

(A/N) Hi, hi, hi everyone. Qwerty, thanks for reviewing. Good to have you on board again. Qenies9, thanks for reviewing again. Sharina, thanks for reviewing again. Anonymous-cat, thanks for reviewing again. So you're writing now, are you? Good luck. Tabatha, thanks for reviewing again. Aryawinds, thanks for reviewing. Glad to hear you like the stories. Now it's time for that anticlimactic battle scene that I love so much. I'm thinking maybe one more chapter after this one. But for now here's chapter five.  
  
Follow the Star  
  
Chapter 5: Keeping the Faith  
  
{ Leave the canister and I just might let you leave here alive. Of course, not that it would matter much. You'd be dead within three hours. } The visser sneered at us.  
  
{ Never, Visser Three! I won't let you destroy her! } I shouted back at him.  
  
{ Ah, so you're the one. Tell me, what is it like to fall for a human, Andalite? } he laughed wickedly as he circled the three of us.  
  
He knew? How could he possibly know?  
  
{ That is none of you're business, Yeerk filth! }  
  
{ Oh, but it is my business, Andalite. If it weren't for those weak emotions of yours I would never have come up with this little scheme. Really, I thought Andalite warriors had more discipline than that. } The mockery in his voice was plain to be heard.  
  
Then the answer came to me. Visser Three had once captured Stella. When she escaped he implanted a device in her system that monitored her vitals and her emotional state. That was how he knew about us. He had kept track of her emotional state during that following week. Stella had been somewhat unstable that week after the battle with Visser Three. She had often turned to me for comfort. Many a night I had morphed to human and held her in my arms that week. This was my fault. I had known that she and I were being watched. If I'd only had more self-control then Stella and I would still have our secret. My fault. If we all died here and now it would be my fault.  
  
{ Ax, don't listen to him. This isn't your fault and it isn't Stella's fault. Let's focus on the battle right now. } Prince Jake told me in private thought speech.  
  
{ She'll die, you know. Even if you do escape me, you won't make it in time. Stella will die. Slowly and painfully, she'll just melt away, in agony every second. } Visser Three spoke in public thought speech but he was speaking only to me. He was taunting me, goading me to attack.  
  
And it was working. I felt my own anger bubbling up beneath the calm predator instincts of the tiger shark. My own rage at being so powerless to prevent the deaths of my friends and........my love.  
  
{ Surrender! } he thundered.  
  
{ Never! Not this time! } I shouted back defiantly.  
  
{ Resistance is futile! We can sit here and trade insults and threats until our morph time runs out. Or until you all whither from the quantum virus. It makes no difference to me. But none of you will leave here alive. }  
  
With that the visser began to inflate with seawater, preparing to fire one of the spears loaded inside the body of the Lebtin Javelin fish.  
  
{ I'm thinking now would be a good time to bail. While he's still inflating. } Prince Jake said as he and Cassie turned and hurriedly began to swim away. But I remained, drifting in front of Visser Three.  
  
{ Ax! Come on! } Cassie called out to me.  
  
It would be so easy. So easy to attack now and take him out of the battle before he could even fire a shot. But something held me back.  
  
In that one moment of hesitation, Visser Three fired. Not at me, but at Prince Jake and Cassie. The spear hit its mark.  
  
{ AAAAAAHH!! } I heard Cassie's scream of pain as the spear bit into the middle of her shark body.  
  
{ Cassie! } Prince Jake cried out. He swam to her side. His guard was completely down. He didn't see that Visser Three was preparing to fire again.  
  
Visser Three ignored me. All of his attention was focused on Prince Jake and Cassie.  
  
That was his mistake.  
  
I had been afraid. But I would not fail to attack this time. Visser Three was almost ready to attack again.  
  
I burst forward with renewed strength. I sank my powerful shark teeth into the Javelin fish.  
  
Instead of drawing blood as I had expected I drew seawater. All of the water that the visser had gathered came bursting out through the gash I had created. All of the water rushing out of his body acted as a propellant. He shot off through he water.  
  
{ AAAAAAAARRGH!! } he screamed as he vanished from my sight.  
  
{ We must hurry. No doubt Visser Three has reinforcements on the way even now. } I said as I swam back to Cassie and Prince Jake.  
  
{ We need to get to the surface so Cassie can demorph. } Prince Jake said.  
  
As we began the ascent to the surface I had to resist the shark's instinct to attack Cassie. Her blood had been spilt and to the shark, blood in the water meant pray. It was a difficult instinct to control.  
  
{ Jake......I don't think- } Cassie began.  
  
{ Please don't talk, Cassie. Save your strength. } Prince Jake said as he helped push Cassie to the surface.  
  
Finally we broke the surface. The first thing I heard was the sound of a bug fighter overhead.  
  
{ Oh no. Not now. } Prince Jake moaned.  
  
I couldn't see very well through the falling snow but I didn't need to. I knew that Visser Three's troops were preparing to drop down on us.  
  
{ Cassie, hurry! De- }  
  
Before he could even finish speaking the taxxons dropped down from the sky. At least fifteen of them. Prince Jake and I could take them easily. But could we hold them off long enough for Cassie to demorph and remorph?  
  
{ Cassie! Demorph! Now! } Prince Jake shouted.  
  
{ I can't, Jake. Not in front of them. }  
  
{ It doesn't matter! Do it! They'll be dead in a minute anyway. }  
  
Just then the first of them attacked. I charged forward through the water. I slammed into the first taxxon. It burst open, spilling its vile innards into the water. This would be no battle at all. Just slaughter.  
  
I had taken down at least five taxxons when I saw one of them heading towards Cassie. She is a fast morpher, but in this case, not fast enough. She was in the middle of demorphing. A helpless mass of human flesh and shark fins, still trying to hold on to the canister. The taxxon was bearing down on her. I could not reach her in time.  
  
{ Prince Jake! } I shouted to him. Trying to warn him that Cassie was in danger.  
  
Prince Jake turned and immediately saw the danger. He charged at the taxxon. He smashed head-on into it. But not before it had managed to take a bite out of Cassie's half--morphed flesh.  
  
"AAAAAAHH!" she screamed as her human mouth took shape. But she continued to demorph. Even as the water around her filled with taxxon gore.  
  
I had no time to see if she was all right. Another taxxon attacked me. It wasn't hard to finish them off. When I had taken down the last of them I saw that Cassie had morphed to dolphin.  
  
The three of us swam away from the massacre sight.  
  
{ Are you all right, Cassie? } Prince Jake asked her, clearly concerned.  
  
{ I'm fine, Jake. But we have to hurry. We haven't got much time left. } Cassie answered shakily.  
  
We didn't speak the rest of the way back. When we were close enough to shore to demorph we did so. I struggled to swim through the surf but it was extremely difficult with only one arm and two legs. The entire back of my lower body had disappeared all together. I no longer had a tail. Both stalk eyes were gone.  
  
When I finally reached the shore I lay there in the snow, breathing hard. So cold. So exhausted. I was exhausted beyond imagining but I still had to morph to northern harrier and get back to the barn.  
  
As I began the morph I heard Cassie speaking to Prince Jake.  
  
{ Come on Jake. You have to finish the morph. We need to get back! }  
  
{ I- I can't.......dizzy.......can't see straight. }  
  
{ Jake, You have to finish it. Don't die on me! }  
  
{ All right. I'm done. Let's go. Come on, Ax! } the voice answered, gaining control of itself.  
  
{ Ax, did you hear him? We have to go. } the second voice asked.  
  
Who was speaking? Couldn't think clearly. Everything was spinning. Where was I? What was going on? Who was I?  
  
It took me a few minutes to realize that I had toppled over and landed in the snow. I felt my feathers ruffling in the driving wind.  
  
Since when did I have feathers?  
  
{ Ax! Keep it together! }  
  
I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my back. An image came through the haze. Another bird, pecking at me.  
  
{ Hello. What's your name? }  
  
{ Oh, god. Ax, your delirious. Listen to me! You have to snap out of it! Think about Stella! }  
  
Stella! The name brought me back to reality. I was lying on a beach. Cassie stood over me. She clutched the canister in her talons. The canister that contained the cure for this disease that had Prince Jake and myself reeling.  
  
I struggled up on my bird talons. I shot up into the snow. I almost fell back to Earth the second I had gained altitude.  
  
Cassie and Prince Jake took to the sky right beside me.  
  
{ Am sorry I. }  
  
{ What? } Cassie asked me.  
  
{ Think cannot straight I. } I tried again but I couldn't make the words come out right.  
  
{ Don't bother. I get it. Man we've really got to hurry. Jake, don't even try to give an order now. Let's just get back to my barn. }  
  
Cassie took the lead and Prince Jake and I followed behind. I didn't know how long I could stay in the air. Where was the barn anyway?  
  
Come to think of it, what was a barn?  
  
* * *  
  
"Tobias..........Gwyn?" Stella asked me.  
  
{ Sure thing, Stella. }  
  
I turned my hawk eyes over to the loft. Gwyn was still lying there, asleep. For the past two hours I had had to keep her entertained by morphing for her. Shockingly enough it didn't scare her. She thought it was fun to watch. She had finally dropped off for a nap and I was exhausted.  
  
{ Sleeping like a baby. } I reported.  
  
"Good." Was all she could manage.  
  
Marco and Rachel had both been mumbling incoherently for the past hour. They had both lost consciousness by now. Stella couldn't manage more than little, one-word sentences before trailing off into nothingness. Now she, too, was barely clinging to consciousness.  
  
We had been waiting for hours and I had had to watch the bodies of my friends slowly mutate. The only limb that Rachel still had was half of her left arm. Marco's face looked like it was just melting off his skull. I was just glad he wasn't conscious to see what he had become. It was just horrible to watch. And with my acute vision I saw every detail. Terrifying. But I couldn't bring myself to look away.  
  
Suddenly I heard Stella speak.  
  
"He's not coming back...........he's not gonna make it." She whispered.  
  
She was talking about Ax.  
  
{ You really love him, don't you? } I said sadly.  
  
"So much."  
  
{ Try and relax a bit. He will come back. } I tried to reassure her.  
  
"It's my fault."  
  
As she said this, her head dropped down on the hay. Unconscious.  
  
It was like some terrible prophecy of doom. The way she had pronounced so boldly and hopelessly that Ax and the others would not return. The way that her head had dropped to the floor. The fact that there was hardly any steam rising from her mouth to signify that she was still breathing.  
  
My gaze drifted over to Rachel. For one wild moment it seemed like there was no breath rising from her lips. I fluttered madly down from the rafters and landed awkwardly in the hay by her side. I focused my laser eyes on her lips. Thankfully, blessedly, there was still steam rising from them.  
  
It was so frustrating. Sitting there and watching her die, unable to do anything. She seemed so helpless. Rachel, who always seemed so strong. Now lying, helpless and weak, on a barn floor awaiting death.  
  
It wasn't fair! How could she die.........while I lived on? But then again, who was I to complain? Since when had my life ever been fair?  
  
Suddenly Rachel lashed out with her one remaining stump of an arm. She tried to cry out in her dream-like state but no sound left her lips. Instead they simply formed the words that she had tried to speak.  
  
"Tobias"  
  
I lowered my hawk beak to her face and let it rest on her cheek.  
  
{ I'm here, Rachel. I'm still here. }  
  
Almost immediately she stopped struggling.  
  
Just then I hear a banging on the barn door.  
  
Oh no! What if it was Cassie's dad? What could I do?  
  
But then the door burst open and in walked Cassie. Two birds of prey flew in behind her. Jake crashed to the ground next to Cassie. Ax just kept flying until he rammed into one of the support beams. Then he crashed to the ground.  
  
{ Ax! Jake! } I shouted.  
  
"How are they?" Cassie asked me urgently.  
  
{ They're alive. Barely. Did you get the medicine? }  
  
"Yes, but I don't know how to get it open." She answered frantically.  
  
I suddenly noticed Ax raise his harrier head and fix his eyes on the canister that Cassie held in her hands.  
  
{ Open. }  
  
The canister split open in Cassie's hands to reveal a needle and syringe. The syringe was filled with a strange, green gel.  
  
{ That's it? } I asked.  
  
{ Yes, it.......} Ax's voice trailed off.  
  
I flapped over to him.  
  
{ What? It what, Ax? Come on, Ax, stay with me! You need to demorph! NOW! } I shouted at him.  
  
Slowly I began to see the changes in his bird body.  
  
Just then my eyes drifted over to Cassie and Jake. What I saw made me want to barf. Jake was just a shifting mass of human flesh and twisted human limbs.  
  
"Jake, you have to finish demorphing. I don't know if I can give you the medicine if you're still in morph." Cassie said.  
  
{ But.........I am done. I can't........}  
  
{ Oh, my god. } I whispered.  
  
Cassie didn't hesitate. She plunged the needle into the first piece of solid flesh she saw and shot a quick burst of the antidote into Jake's body. If you could call it that.  
  
She wasted no words. She moved on to Ax and plunged the needle into his still shifting Andalite fur.  
  
When she moved on to the other three I looked back at Jake. I began to see a human body taking shape out of the horrible jumble of flesh and bones. Until at last, Jake was lying on the barn floor, whole.  
  
The same was true with Ax. I was beginning to see a complete Andalite body emerge out of the twisted blue ball.  
  
When I was certain that the two of them would be fine I turned my attention back to the stall that held Rachel, Marco, and Stella.  
  
Rachel was already taken care of. She was no longer disintegrating. She lay still with her eyes open.  
  
{ Rachel, don't look at yourself. Just morph. It's the only way to get rid of the mutation.}  
  
She didn't ask questions. She began to morph to eagle. As soon as Marco was aware of what was happening he began to morph too. To osprey.  
  
Just then I noticed Cassie treating Stella. It was the last of the antidote. It was a cruel trick of Visser Three's. The medicine in the syringe would never have been enough for all seven of us. But what he didn't know was that some of us had natural immunity. Thankfully it had worked out that way. Or we would have had to pick to of us to die.  
  
Stella's eyelids fluttered open. She glanced around the room and then she started to morph.  
  
For a few minutes I couldn't tell what she was morphing. But then I began to see the purple fur, the extra eyes, and the tail blade. A female Andalite.  
  
Marco and Rachel demorphed. Cassie ran to Jake and hugged him close. But Stella did not demorph. Ax helped her to her feet and for a moment the two of them just stood there staring at each other.  
  
Then Ax put his weak, Andalite arms around Stella. She didn't resist. She just let him hug her. It's not something Andalites do from what I've heard Ax say but I guess he's just been on Earth too long.  
  
After a few minutes Ax raised up one of his hands and let it rest on Stella's cheek.  
  
{ I'm so sorry. } she said. Though she could not cry in Andalite form I could hear her sorrow in her voice.  
  
{ For what? It wasn't your fault. Besides, we are all here. Alive and well. } I said.  
  
{ Stella........I was afraid I would never see you again. } Ax said reluctantly.  
  
Stella didn't respond to this. She just rested her head on Ax's chest.  
  
We all just stood there for what seemed like hours staring at the two of them. Then Jake cleared his throat.  
  
"Um........we should probably all be heading home. It's getting late and it's Christmas Eve. Our parents are gonna start asking questions if we aren't home for Christmas."  
  
"What?! We were almost annihilated by a quantum virus and that's all you're gonna say to us?!" Marco asked in mock fury.  
  
"Yep." Jake said with a laugh.  
  
"Well, let's get going then."  
  
As Marco and Jake walked out the door into the snow I heard Marco singing "I'll Be Home for Christmas" way off key.  
  
"Oh man, I feel sorry for Jake. Having to listen to that all the way home." Cassie said with a smile. "I'll see you guys in the morning, okay? I've got to be heading in now."  
  
With that she walked out of the barn and headed up to her house.  
  
I flew from my perch and landed on Rachel's shoulder, being careful not to dig my talons into her skin.  
  
"Tobias, why don't you stay at my house tonight. It's still snowing so hard and.........and you shouldn't have to be alone on Christmas." Rachel whispered to me.  
  
{ Nah, Christmas isn't for the birds. But I will stop by later tonight, though. } I whispered back to her.  
  
She looked ready to argue, but seemed to think better of it. She nodded and began to walk out of the barn. Before going out into the blinding snow I turned one last time to see Ax and Stella. Both had morphed to human. Ax was still holding Stella in his arms. The two of them were locked in a passionate kiss.  
  
{ Have fun you two. Unwind a little bit. It's Christmas. } I called to them.  
  
Ax grinned at me once before Rachel shut the barn door. I lifted from her shoulder and flapped into the snow. It would be difficult to find my way but I knew that I could do it.  
  
As I flew back to my meadow my thoughts were on Ax and Stella. They would indeed take comfort in each other on this night. Christmas Eve, called the holiest night of the year by many.  
  
Maybe one day Rachel and I would share something as deep and meaningful as that with each other. One day..........  
  
* * *  
  
(A/N) Yep, definitely one more chapter. 


	6. This I Swear

(A/N) Well, here's the last chapter of Follow the Star. Sorry it took so long. My computer broke down and we had to hunt down a new one. Now I need suggestions for what to call the third story in this little quartet. Definitely something with the word Star in it. It will take place somewhere in between books 45 and 49. I am currently reading book 42 and I haven't skipped one yet. I'm almost to the end, Go me! Um...........yeah..........sure. Getting back on track. The next story will definitely be a bit more light-hearted. I want a little bit of happiness before I write the fourth Stella fic, which is gonna be somewhat on the dark side. Be forewarned and keep your eyes open for book three. Qwerty, thanks for reviewing again. Sharina, thanks for reviewing again. Aryawinds, thanks for reviewing again. Anonymous-cat, thanks for reviewing again. Tabatha, thanks for reviewing again. g21lto, thanks for reviewing. Tigerlily-2250, thanks for reviewing. No need to hunt me down. Ax is yours, is he? *grins evilly* We'll just have to see about that, now won't we? D.H. L'Orange, thanks for all of those reviews for both stories. And thanks for the tips. Yes, I am an X-men fan. Love it. So yeah, not entirely original on my part. And here's the nice, sappy, wrap-things-up chapter.  
  
Follow the Star  
Chapter 6: This I swear  
  
Lately I've noticed that whenever I survive a near death experience I dream about the girl. In my life near death is very nearly the every day thing. So the dreams had been coming more often lately. Sometimes she was human. Other times she was an Andalite. Sometimes there was a boy with her. Her twin brother. I knew them both from dreams past. Arrow and Elfangor.  
  
Normally the dreams took place on the Andalite home world. Some of them were on Earth. Tonight it was on the Andalite home world. It was a different dream than the one I had been having for the past few months.  
  
This time I saw them in some sort of underground room. The only thing that held up the earthen roof were steel support beams attached to the dirt walls. In this dream the twins looked to be about ten years old. They were both human. Two new people were with them. A woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties, maybe a bit older. And a small child. This girl looked to be no more than five.  
  
The room was a crude sort of bedroom. A rough, steel bed-frame was set very close to the ground. It was covered with a homemade pallet that I assumed was supposed to be a mattress. The little girl was tucked into this bed under a very thin blanket. The woman sat beside her. The girl was resting her head on the woman's lap. The twins stood before them.  
  
Arrow had a mop of black hair that was very similar to my own. Only it was cut at the top of her shoulders, whereas my hair was waist long. And a streak of aquamarine stuck out from the rest of the black.  
  
Elfangor looked a lot like Marco. Only his hair was closer to being blonde and his eyes were a deep, vibrant green.  
  
"Mother, is it true what we've heard? Elfangor says he heard grandpa and grandma talking about father. They said that he was missing. That he might even be dead." Arrow said to the woman.  
  
"No!" the woman replied fiercely, but then more calmly. "No, he's not dead. He's coming back."  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
"I know." The woman answered calmly as she hugged the little girl closer to her.  
  
"But how do we know that you aren't lying to us again?"  
  
"When have I ever lied to you two?"  
  
"You didn't tell us that Seerow would be taken away until after it happened. Why did you let them take him?" Arrow asked furiously.  
  
"Because I had no choice, Arrow. It was the only way to save him from Lirem."  
  
"What about Elfangor and I? If Seerow was in danger what will happen to us? And what about Janisari?"  
  
"They won't find us here."  
  
"Are they going to kill us, mother?"  
  
"Arrow don't talk like that. You'll scare your sister." The woman said sharply.  
  
"Mother, do you even know where Seerow is?" Elfangor asked, suddenly piping up.  
  
The woman hesitated for a minute before answering.  
  
"No, I.......................he said it would be best if I didn't know where Seerow was being hidden."  
  
"He? Who's he?" Elfangor asked.  
  
"Ellimist." The woman whispered.  
  
"Oh, come on! First you say that father might actually come back from the wars. Then you bring mythical creatures into it that don't even exist! I've heard enough!" Arrow shouted angrily. She stalked away towards one of the support beams. It turns out that it was a door. You wouldn't even have seen it if you didn't know what you were looking for.  
  
"Arrow, come back!" the woman cried out.  
  
But Arrow didn't listen. She was already gone. Elfangor stood there for a few minutes, looking like he was about to say something to the woman. But then he ran after his sister.  
  
"Mommy, is it true that daddy isn't coming back?" The little girl asked the woman.  
  
The woman took the child in her arms and hugged her fiercely.  
  
"Of coarse not, Jani. He will come back."  
  
"What about Seerow? I miss him."  
  
"I don't know, Janisari. I really don't know."  
  
The little girl called Janisari buried her face in the woman's shoulder and cried softly for awhile. When she finally lifted her head up again she spoke.  
  
"It's good that they left. Seerow and Daddy. We didn't need them."  
  
"Oh baby, don't say that." The woman said shakily. "You didn't mean it."  
  
"They left, but I'll remember them."  
  
The woman turned away from Janisari and looked to the empty air by her side. She had a distant look in her eyes. As if she was remembering something from the past.  
  
"He used to stand there. Right beside me, watching over you, when he was home. I wish he was here now." She said as a single tear slid down her cheek.  
  
Then she turned back to Janisari and began to tuck her into bed. As she worked she began to sing quietly.  
  
It's turned so cold.  
It's past your bedtime.  
You've played the day away  
And soon it will be night.  
  
Come to me, the light is fading  
Don't you see the evening star  
Appearing  
Come to me and rest  
Against my shoulder.  
How fast the minutes fly away  
And every minute colder.  
  
Hurry near  
Another day is dying.  
Don't you hear,  
The winter wind is crying.  
There's a darkness  
Which comes without a warning.  
But I will sing you lullabies  
And wake you in the morning.  
  
By this time Janisari's eyes were beginning to close in sleep. She yawned one final time and before she drifted off she spoke again.  
  
"I remember everyone who leaves."  
  
With that she let her head drop to the pillow in sleep. The woman covered her mouth with her right hand to keep her sob from being heard. It was so shocking to hear such words from the mouth of a child.  
  
* * *  
  
When I woke up the first thing that I noticed was how cold it was. My breath rose above my head in a great, steaming cloud. The morning sun shone through the upper window of the barn. It had blown open during the night. For a few minutes I lay in my sleeping bag. Not wanting to remember, not wanting to think of the strain of the previous week. Just to lay there and let the winter sun warm my face.  
  
But eventually I climbed out of the sleeping bag and walked to a spot where I could easily look out of the window and not fall off of the loft. The snow had stopped sometime during the night.  
  
The fields were covered with a deep blanket of pure, white snow. As of yet it was unspoiled by tracks. Everyone loves to go out and play in the fresh, new snow. But I think that everyone hesitates before defiling such a pure blanket with their own marks. No one wants to be the first to spoil new snow.  
  
Then I remembered. It was Christmas morning. I had a gift for Gwyn hidden away. This would be her second Christmas. It made me so sad that she couldn't enjoy a normal Christmas, a normal childhood. Opening presents under the tree with her brother and sister while their parents looked on. But she could never have that. Not now.  
  
And it was my fault. How could the beauty of this Christmas morning be mixed with such sorrow?  
  
I was so distracted by my thoughts that I didn't even hear it when Ax morphed. For a minute I didn't even feel him lock his arms around me.  
  
"Shouldn't you put on some extra garments? It is very cold this morning."  
  
Suddenly I snapped back to reality. I hadn't realized how cold I was until that moment. I allowed myself the luxury of shivering as I pulled away from him. I reached for my backpack and pulled out a sweater. That would work for now.  
  
"This is Christmas morning if I am not mistaken. Is this correct, Stella?"  
  
"Yeah, that's right." I sighed.  
  
"Do you miss it?"  
  
"Miss what?" I asked, puzzled.  
  
"From what I have seen, this Christmas is a family celebration. Do you miss celebrating it with your family?"  
  
"I guess. I miss Christmas with Claire, yes. But my parents................"  
  
"What of them?"  
  
"Don't get me wrong. I loved them both. I really did. I still do. And I know they loved me. Somewhere deep down inside................."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
This wasn't a subject that I liked to talk about. I had never mentioned it before. Not even to Ax. It was weak of me to get upset over such a thing. It happened to a lot of kids.  
  
"I don't think my parents ever wanted a second kid. It was always Claire. I was just the shadow. They never said it to my face, but I knew. I was just an accident. They never really wanted me but they didn't have the heart to give me up either. After Claire died they just stopped caring. They dropped all pretense of ever having really wanted me. They loved me....................but they didn't want me. Do you understand that?" I turned my pleading gaze back to him.  
  
"I think I might."  
  
I turned away from him once more.  
  
"That last year was the hardest. It was so tough at home. They almost ignored me. But...................I was in such a hurry that morning. I never got to say goodbye to my mom. Never got to apologize to my dad for all of the suspicion. I do miss them............of course I miss them.............but.................."  
  
I was trembling now. My own pride wouldn't allow me to cry. My shoulders shook beneath the warmth of the sweater. Suddenly I felt his arms around me again.  
  
"I'm sorry". he whispered in my ear.  
  
"Don't be. It's over now." I whispered back just as softly.  
  
"I know that I can't make up for all of that. But I have something for you that might help. Just shut your eyes for a moment, please." he said as he pulled away from me.  
  
So I closed my eyes and listened to him talk.  
  
"Prince Jake helped me find it. What do you think of it?" he asked.  
  
At that moment I felt something small and cold drop into my palm. I opened my eyes and there, nestled in the palm of my hand, was a necklace. A small, silver locket strung on a slender, silver chain. When I looked closer I could see a star etched into the locket.  
  
"Oh Ax. It's beautiful." I whispered. I didn't normally wear jewelry but this was a different case. Besides, it just "felt" right somehow as I undid the clasp and slid it around my neck. It was almost like I had been missing something when I felt the weight of the charm hanging between my breasts. It was familiar somehow.  
  
"Merry Christmas, Stella"  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Now it was my turn.  
  
"Ax, I know you would have preferred a box of cinnamon buns but it's not exactly easy to keep them warm out here. So I got you this."  
  
I went to my backpack and pulled out a tiny box. I felt so cheap giving it as Christmas gift. It was only plastic. But I couldn't afford anything else.  
  
I handed the box to Ax and he ripped it open. Inside rested a plastic ring strung on a silver chain. Just a plastic band painted so that it looked like it was made of gold.  
  
"I'm sorry I couldn't afford anything better." I said as I hung my head.  
  
"It's all right. Andalites don't wear jewelry but I shall make an exception."  
  
I smiled shyly and helped him clasp the chain around his neck, happy that he didn't undertand the human custom of giving rings.  
  
"Thank you, Stella." As he spoke he pulled me into his arms again.  
  
Gwyn was still asleep. There would be plenty of time for presents later. But in the mean time................  
  
I snaked my arms around his neck and let my head rest against his chest. He fitted his arms to the small of my back and buried his face in my hair. I felt that familiar charge run up my spine as his hands made contact with my skin.  
  
It was in these rare moments that I just wanted to let go of everything. Forget about fighting the Yeerks and all of the missions. Who cared about Visser Three. Simply to lose myself in Ax's arms and forget my pain.  
  
"Aw, it's a kodac moment." I suddenly heard Marco's teasing voice.  
  
Instantly we pulled apart and saw the other Animorphs standing in the loft. Tobias was sitting in his perch in the rafters.  
  
"Why do you always do that?" I asked Marco angrily.  
  
"Somebody has to keep you two in line." he said with a smirk.  
  
"Wipe that smirk off your face or I'll come over there and get rid of it for you." I hissed at him.  
  
{ Woah, cat fat! } I heard Tobias's voice in my head.  
  
"Well that hurts my feelings bird boy. Did Rachel tell you to say that?"  
  
As he said this Rachel's eyes slid menacingly in his direction.  
  
"I wouldn't go there if I were you, marco." Jake said.  
  
"Yeah? Well if you were me then I'd be you and I'd still say it. Then Rachel wouldn't be able to make me pay for it. You can't stop me no matter who you are."  
  
"Is that even possible?" Ax asked no one in particular.  
  
"Shut up! I mean it! I will end you!" I said as I walked towards Marco with every intention of strangling him.  
  
"End me? But then you'd spoil the surprise." he said.  
  
"What?" I asked.  
  
"Come on down and we'll show you." Jake said.  
  
So we all climbed down the ladder and the four of them pushed Ax and I to the open barn door. We both looked out into the snow-covered landscape.  
  
"I don't get it. What's the deal?" I asked them.  
  
"I do not see anything either." Ax said.  
  
"That's because you're looking in the wrong place." Cassie said with a slight grin.  
  
Suddenly it hit me.  
  
"Oh no." I whispered as my gaze drifted upwards. "Not here, not now. Not me, no way." I said when my eyes rested on the piece of mistletoe that had been fixed to the door frame above our heads.  
  
"Oh yes. Right here, right now." Rachel said.  
  
"Who actually bothers with that dumb tradition anyway." I said with a nervous laugh.  
  
"{ We do. }" all five of them replied at the same time.  
  
"Okay, who's after Ax and Stella? Rachel? Care to join me?"  
  
"Keep dreaming Marco."  
  
"Oh I will. Believe me, I will."  
  
"I do not understand. What is the significance of this plant attached to the ceiling?" Ax asked me.  
  
I only groaned in response.  
  
"It's a Christmas tradition. If a guy and a girl get caught under the mistletoe, then they have to kiss." Cassie explained.  
  
"Right in front of everyone." Marco added.  
  
"I hate you Marco." I said as I turned back to face Ax.  
  
"What is wrong, Stella? Would you rather not?"  
  
"No, it's okay. We might as well get it over with. If we don't then we'll never hear the end of it." I said as he wrapped his arms around my shoulders and pulled me closer to himself.  
  
As our lips met I heard Marco wooping out loud. I hardly noticed. I was to intent on the kiss at hand. Once again, that wonderful, blissful void. Just Ax and myself. It felt like we stood there for hours, but it was really only a few brief moments.  
  
When we finally pulled away from each other I heard all of the others laughing hysterically.  
  
"All right you two, lets get moving. You're blocking traffic." Marco said.  
  
"No, maybe we could just stand here under this................mistletoe." Ax said. A dreamy expression was on his face the whole time.  
  
"Famous last words." I whispered coyly as I pulled him to me again.  
  
* * * 


End file.
